An ongoing partnership agreement between leading paint brand Johnstone’s and Northwards Housing, an Arms Length Management Organisation (ALMO) in Manchester, has ensured a stunning outcome for one of the oldest Listed Victorian tenement blocks in Europe.
Northwards Housing was established in 2005 to manage over 13,000 homes in the North Manchester area and Johnstone’s was soon appointed to provide technical specification advice and high quality products to assist in the creation of six show homes. Providing consistency of product performance, technical advice and aftercare, Johnstone’s has gone on to be specified for use across Northwards Housing extensive property stock as part of its routine maintenance programme.
As part of this programme, Johnstone’s was tasked with providing advanced technical support and product specification for Northwards Housing’s most prestigious development, Victoria Square in the Ancoats area of the city. The development, which was built circa 1894 and has been used as the location for television programmes such as Cracker and Silent Witness, has 166 properties housing one and two occupants each.
As the building is Grade II Listed, Johnstone’s Technical Advisory took great care to ensure the maintenance work was carried out as sympathetically and considerately as possible. Firstly, flake samples from the original paintwork were sent to Johnstone’s head office in Yorkshire where the team of colour specialists were able to examine them and accurately match the original colour scheme.
Johnstone’s provided a comprehensive range of products for internal use at Victoria Square, including the Aqua Water-Based Gloss and Covaplus Vinyl Matt for the apartments and a range of masonry coatings for the external cladding. Also used to enhance the interiors of the flats was the paintable wallpaper product Easytex, which uses advanced textured materials to provide an extremely durable surface for walls and ceilings.
As well as providing assistance with the colour schemes, members of Johnstone’s technical team have also provided detailed advice on the necessary preparation that must be undertaken before a redecoration programme of this size can be successfully implemented.
Specialist timber window manufacturers, Emmanuel Whittaker, replaced all the external sash windows with architecturally faithful copies of the originals. These were then painted with Johnstone’s Stormshield Flexible Gloss system to ensure they were provided with a finish with would provide long term protection against blistering, cracking and flaking and that would extend maintenance cycles.
Paul Maidment, Head of Home Improvements for Northwards Housing, comments: “Johnstone’s is a valued member of our supply chain and we are delighted with the quality of both the products and service we received on this maintenance project. Northwards Housing is committed to delivering the excellent standard of housing service our residents deserve and our partnership with Johnstone’s has played a vital role in helping to reduce our maintenance costs whilst creating attractive and welcoming homes.”
Johnstone’s recently launched ‘Paint Solutions for Social Housing’ guide offers valuable guidance to specifiers involved in implementing the Decent Homes Standard and National Affordable Housing Programme by assisting with the creation of colour schemes and product selection for both interior and exterior projects.