Whittle Work Recognised in National Painting Awards! Back

Date published: July 7, 2017

Whittle Programmed Painting detailed decorative work for heritage site Lady Lever Art Gallery in Port Sunlight, Wirral has been recognised as the Highly Decorative Painting Contract of the Year in the prestigious national Premier Trophy awards run by the Painting and Decorating Association of Great Britain. The work was carried out for our client National Museums and Galleries, Liverpool.

Group Operations Director Ivor Thomas received the award at the award ceremony at Marriot Hotel, Park Lane, London. This is the twelfth time we have won a national award which makes Hankinson Group one of the most highly decorated painting contractors in the UK.

The intricate painting restoration carried out by our Highly Decorative Team included trompe l’oeil (‘trick of the eye’) faux panels and dado rails to frame some of their treasured furniture and artwork pieces, as well as painted marble effect.

The judges said: “The work in the Napoleon Room was exceptional with very fine work such as gold fine lining, stippling and sign writing to a very ornate standard. Words cannot really describe the finish achieved.”

Visitors to the Gallery have struggled to tell the difference between real marble and the marble effect carried out by our decorative artists.

Any restoration work carried out to a heritage building must be carried out precisely and sensitively to honour the existing detail, and our team were able to carefully strip back the over-coatings to expose original paintwork carried out in the 1970s. To read more about this project, click here.

The benefit of using trompe l’oeil is that you can dramatically change the look of a room without having to make any permanent changes to the wall fixtures or structure – this is a huge consideration for heritage sites especially, where the aim is to preserve as much of the original character and structure of the building as possible.

The paint that was used to achieve the effects on this contract was manufactured by Johnstone’s Trade – so it was fantastic to be able to celebrate this award with them following the recent announcement of our collaborative partnership between Hankinson Group and Johnstone’s Trade.

Ivor Thomas of Whittle commented: “This is fantastic recognition of our workmanship and the team are thrilled with the outcome. We have worked for National Museums Liverpool for over 30 years and we have completed some amazing projects in that time, but this award winning contract in such an iconic building is definitely the highlight.”

As well as securing the award, the Group also received further recognition with Whittle being Highly Commended in the Commercial Category for work at Derby County Football Club, and Commended in the Industrial Category for work on the Odyssey rollercoaster in Lincolnshire. EPIC Painting were Very Highly Commended for their work on Main Stand expansion project for Liverpool FC – what a fantastic outcome!