Sheffield City Hall

Sheffield City Hall has recently undergone major refurbishment and has been restored to its former glory with the help of Johnstone’s paints and the skills of Doncaster based painting contractors, J Ibbotson Ltd.

City Hall is one of Sheffield’s most historical buildings and provided a complex project that required special care and attention.

The trustees at Sheffield City Hall wanted the building to be lovingly and painstakingly restored so that the interior encapsulated the original colour schemes from when it was built in the 1930s.

J Ibbotson Ltd of Doncaster, were selected by the main contractor, HBG, to carry out the redecoration works and Ibbotson’s immediately chose to use Johnstone’s paint for the project because they have relied on the quality of this brand for many years.

Colour consultant Nigel Salter, from Johnstone’s Technical Advisory Department, spent some considerable time on site and conducted a detailed examination of the building before any decision was made on the most suitable products for the job.

Nigel assessed the condition of the existing painted surfaces and those in need of painting. He took samples and scrapings from each of the rooms to allow him to produce schemes to match the colours which were originally used. A number of considerations were taken into account such as the level of durability required and the client’s specific requirements.

Months of research was carried out before any work began on the refurbishment – which cost a total of over £12 million. The technical advisory team also took samples and scrapings from each of the rooms not only to match the original colour schemes but also to determine the original finishes.

Archives were studied in detail to establish the original décor. The walls had been painted several times over the years so it was essential to strip down the layers.

Johnstone’s specification team provided a complete specification report based upon their observations on site. The specification included details of how the surfaces should be prepared, the recommended coatings to use, how they should be applied and in what specific conditions.

Ibbotson’s started work on the project in September 2004 and work was completed in October 2005 – with up to 18 decorators working on the project each day.

Angela Walker, Administration Director at J Ibbotson Ltd, said it was essential to treat the project with care and attention to detail.

“We were advised that the paint work needed to be lovingly restored to its’ original glory so months of research went into getting exactly the right colours for the job.

“We have worked with SigmaKalon for many years so we automatically chose Johnstone’s products to carry out the work.

“In the Arches Bar for example, we have incorporated silver Yorkshire Rose motifs to the columns because we looked back in the archives and found out that this was what it would have looked like,” adds Angela.

Each of the roses has been hand-painted on the columns – giving the area a completely unique feel.

Angela says that they used Johnstone’s new Acrylic Matt for the first time in this project and they were delighted with the results.

“Because of the age of the building – the walls were not in a perfect condition so we were looking for a product which would be able to hide some of the imperfections. The architect who planned the whole refurb was absolutely delighted with the Acrylic Matt – the coverage and the finish was really good,” she adds.

Other Johnstone’s products which were used in the massive refurb project included Acrylic Primer Undercoat, Wood Primer, Professional Gloss and Undercoat and Acrylic Matt for the walls in the corridors.

J Ibbotson also had to clean the huge dome ceiling before any of the paintwork was carried out.

The colours were matched to the original interior and were mixed especially for the project using Johnstone’s unique colour matching facility.

Andrew Trickett, area sales representative for SigmaKalon, says that both Johnstone’s and J Ibbotson were all extremely proud of the end result.

“This renovation project took a large amount of research from our Technical Advisory Department to ensure we matched the colours from when it was first built in the 1930s

“We have an excellent customer relationship with J Ibbotson and we were pleased that they decided to work with us on the project because they knew they could rely on both our products and the service we offer,” he adds.

Sheffield City Hall is currently home to 400 events per year and features a classic style concert hall, art deco ballroom and memorial hall.