Located within the Bloomsbury Conservation Area at Kings Cross, Cartwright Gardens previously provided 1,013 student rooms. Upon the completion of this project, the student accommodation rooms increased to 1,200. The existing buildings, with the exclusion of the 14 storey Hughes Parry Tower, was demolished and replaced with a new building. The Hughes Parry tower now provides 246 student accommodation rooms and 954 rooms located within the new buildings.
The refurbishment of Hughes Parry Tower also involved the removal of all internal, external finishes, cladding systems of the upper 2 floors and replaced with new ones. Also included was the refurbishment of the existing private gardens and 4 new tennis courts. The new building was constructed from a situ concrete frame and brick-faced concrete cladding panels to all external elevations in addition to the new internal courtyards having had a renovated render finish with our Stormshield Render System.
To tackle this ambitious project, architects TP Bennett specified an array of Johnstone’s Trade coatings to meet the precise needs and demands of the various substrates. The involved decorators, Primestone Builders Ltd took on this project and transformed the student accommodations internally and externally with a wide range of products.
With a new building and new rooms, comes the need to decorate the walls, both interiors and exteriors. Johnstone’s Trade high performance coatings met the requirements of these new substrates. The coatings used in this case for internal walls are our popular Ecological Solutions Covaplus Vinyl Matt Emulsion, Endura Super Durable Matt Emulsion, along with Acrylic Satin as a finish for the trim areas. Our Woodworks Satin Woodstain was also used for wooden or timber substrates that need to be revived with a smooth and protective satin finish. Lastly, to give a long lasting finish to the externals of the buildings, our tough and weather resistant Stormshield Flexible Gloss and Smooth Masonry were also used.