The winners of the annual awards have been announced following a virtual ceremony which took place on Friday 28th May.
The annual celebration recognises the top talent in the painting and decorating industry, highlighting outstanding work from the past year. Given the social distancing restrictions, the event took place virtually with an online voting system used to determine the winners of the awards which is now in its 38th year.
The event saw 23 finalists compete across six categories; Residential, Commercial, Education, Healthcare, Industry and Hospitality, Leisure and Retail. From these category winners, one was selected as the overall Supreme Winner. Two additional awards were also up for grabs for outstanding EWI and Render work for commercial and domestic projects.
And the Supreme Winner is…
The Supreme Winner accolade went to Hospitality, Leisure and Retail category winner, RE Martin, for their work on the renovation of Derby Silk Mill, pictured below. The Grade ll Silk Mill was built in 1721 and has recently undergone an extensive £18 million renovation to become the home of the new Museum of Making.
The four-storey building includes an exhibition space, storage space, workshops, public spaces and a café, all of which were impeccably transformed by the RE Martin team using Johnstone’s Trade products such as Jonmat Contract Matt and Acrylic Durable Matt. The team modernised the building with a white and dark grey colour scheme, whilst preserving the building’s traditional features including original beams, brickwork and metal staircases.
Emmet Martin, Operations Director at RE Martin said: “We’re over the moon to be named as the Painter of the Year Supreme Winner. All the other nominations were outstanding, so to be voted for by our peers when there was such tough competition is an honour. Our team had to work quickly to complete all renovation work ahead of the Museum’s opening in May and the age of the building demanded some very intricate work, but I am so proud of the team’s efforts and the final result.”
The Johnstone’s Painter of the Year judges commented on how RE Martin’s careful work reflected a true understanding of the heritage of the building. They were also impressed by the way the team balanced maintaining the building’s heritage with creating an educational and exhibition space that feels very welcoming to a modern audience. The team were awarded with a brand-new personalised van from PPG as congratulations for taking home the Supreme Winner title.
The category winners
The winner in the Industrial category was Story Decorating Group for Manchester Airport. The team of 33 transformed the new Terminal Two building, Pier and Link building and multi-storey car park within strict timescales and to the client’s high specification.
In the Healthcare category, Nelson Decorators won for their interior redecoration of Swords Nursing Home in County Dublin. Vibrant colours were used for the bedroom doors throughout the care home to provide visual stimulation for residents with dementia. The judges commented: “The team have created a comfortable and engaging space for long-term residents of this care home. The thoughtful use of colour to help the residents in their daily lives is particularly noteworthy.”
Meanwhile, Smith Painters won in the Education category for The Spine in Liverpool – the new 14-storey flagship building for the Royal College of Physicians. Being one of the UK’s first buildings designed to achieve a WELL Standard Certification, they used Johnstone’s Trade Air Pure throughout the building.
In the Residential category, Opus Services won for transforming the interior and exterior of a luxurious period property dating back to the 1800s, using a wide variety of Johnstone’ Trade products.
The award in the Commercial category went to Davisons Solutions for Royal Middlehaven House in Middlesbrough, a three-storey office building built in the late 1970s. The team renovated the exterior with an impressive freehand design of concentric circles, to align it with the modern high-spec interior and exteriors of its neighbouring buildings.
Finally, the EWI and Render was awarded to two winners who were chosen by experts at PPG. Hodgson Specialist Rendering were awarded the commercial award for their expert work on The Premier Inn at Scarborough, and the domestic award went to J & J Plasterers Ltd for their work on a stunning new build at Slouchlaw Bay, Stranraer.
Rachel Copley, head of marketing at PPG, said: “It has been another fantastic year for Painter of the Year and we’re very happy that we were able to celebrate the hard work of painter and decorators from across the country, albeit virtually. The quality of the entries were some of the best we’ve seen, especially given the challenges that we’ve faced over the past year! The Painter of the Year Awards are an excellent opportunity to celebrate and reward incredible work, talent in the industry and the versatility of PPG coatings.
“We’d like to thank every single nominee and say a huge congratulations to all the winners and finalists.”
For more information visit www.johnstonestrade.com or get ahead of next year’s competition by submitting your nomination now https://www.johnstonestrade.com/poty