Novus revitalises Kensington hotel façade 

The exterior of a prestigious four star London hotel has been completely refreshed by the team from Novus Property Solutions who repainted the exterior façade.

Located in the heart of Kensington, just a few minutes’ walk from the Natural History Museum, Royal Albert Hall and Harrods, the Park International Hotel is a contemporary 171-bedroom hotel housed in a stunning converted Georgian style town house.

The hotel is one of 148 gold standard serviced accommodation, hotel residences and boutique lifestyle hotels across Europe, Middle East, Africa, North Asia, Southeast Asia and Australia owned by Frasers Hospitality Group.

The hotel’s beautiful white painted façade is in keeping with the building’s Georgian heritage and reflects the style of the street, creating the perfect first impression for hotel guests as they arrive. With a date set for a VIP guest to visit the hotel, the redecoration of the exterior paintwork had to be completed to a strict five week deadline from start to finish.

Seven operatives from Novus’ Leighton Buzzard office repainted the front façade of the hotel on the ground and first floors up to the balcony height, in addition to all the windows, doors, steps and metal railings. Novus specified the products required, with a colour scheme of black, white and silver used to remain true to hotel’s style.

Dulux Weathershield Smooth Masonry paint was used for the blockwork. The high performance paint is formulated to resist flaking, peeling and mould staining as well as being UV resistant, meaning that the hotel’s exterior will remain bright white for years to come, whatever the weather. Undercoat and gloss from the Dulux Weathershield range was applied to the metal railings as well as the exterior windows and doors to ensure a long-lasting, weather-resistant finish for the hotel.

A two part water-based Epoxy floor paint from Johnstone’s was used for the hotel’s steps with a powder applied in between coats to create the anti-slip effect and ensure a hard hardwearing finish was achieved.

As well as the tight five-week deadline, the project also posed the challenge of access particularly regarding scaffolding due to its location on an extremely busy road in the middle of Kensington.

Jamie Grant, contracts agent from Novus commented: “The timescale was very tight and there was no scope for delay due to the chairman’s visit, but we rose to the challenge to deliver it on time as agreed. While we had to work around the clock to complete within the five week deadline, but the team were constantly mindful of hotel staff and guests to ensure that the works didn’t cause any disruption.”