Lanyon Marketplace shopping centre is located a short trip south from our nation’s capital and is home to a range of retailers.

Much has changed since the facility’s construction in 1997, however until recently, the coating system had not. Our Canberra Team was engaged to provide the first repaint of the facility, and detailed a flexible plan that involved several years of painting maintenance.

The challenge

As the facility had not been repainted since it’s construction, our first inspection revealed deteriorated paintwork and a façade that was tired and dated. It was clear a significant painting overhaul was required. Though preliminary discussions centred around continuing with their previous colour scheme, our team suggested a colour change to contemporise the building.

After our initial discussions with the customer, it was clear the level of works they desired exceeded their yearly budget for painting. This created the need for a unique tailored solution to be developed to help spread the costs of a front-loaded painting plan, across several years.

Given the facility remained operational throughout the project, our Operations Team had to minimise disruption to the tenants. Savvy project management was required to ensure the ongoing safety of the centre’s patrons.

Solution

The alternative colour scheme we provided was reviewed and approved by the project's architect, which was comprised of a hybrid Haymes coating system. Though some areas of the project required significant attention, such as spot priming, and an additional coat to ensure adhesion on some surfaces, the painting specification was not overly complex.

The key challenge in the operations of this project involved the access methodology. Various access equipment was utilised to ensure the safety of our employees and the public. For internal works, we created exclusion zones and where possible operated in non-operational hours. External works similarly relied on exclusion zones, which we regularly communicated with the asset manager to ensure all tenants remained appraised of our painting schedule.

We predominantly employed Elevated Working Platforms (EWP’s), including knuckle booms and scissor lifts to safely access all areas. The signage on the front façade required scaffolding to be erected, as the area was unable to be safely reached via EWP’s.

To accommodate the budgetary constraints of the customer, we developed a tailored multi-year painting plan that enabled the total cost of the project to be spread over the duration of the plan. Without this level of flexibility, the customer would have likely relied upon sectional repaints.

Results

After completing the first phase of this project, which included the full repaint, we were thrilled with the outcome. Discretionary hours have been allocated for the remaining years of the plan. The client was similarly pleased with our work to date and provided the following testimonial.

"Belle Property Retail Canberra were impressed with Higgins’ diligence throughout a raft of difficult conditions; from choking, smoky haze to constant, soaking rain. Lanyon Marketplace Shopping Centre was given a completely new lease on life."

Director, Belle Property Retail Canberra