Cotswold Design and Construction (CDC) recently completed a huge job at the new refurbished Georgian ‘Hotel on the Park’ on the Evesham road in Cheltenham. The hotel name has now changed to The Pitt, named after Joseph Pitt who founded the Pittsville Pump rooms amongst other landmarked areas in Cheltenham.
We were very pleased to supply the paint for this impressive project. The new owners have kept strictly to the conservation ethos that is so demanded by these wonderful old buildings. All the plaster work was stripped back and redone in authentic lime plasters which required a good breathable paint. Our initial idea of using a traditional lime wash proved too irksome for the short period and tight deadline that was required for the project (the hotel had to be open in time for the Cheltenham Race festival in March, the biggest date in this region’s calendar). We switched to Earthborn Claypaint instead, one of the many eco paints we keep, perfect for historic restoration projects as the Claypaint is micro-porous and can deal with the alkalinity of fully dried lime. It also has fantastic colours that sit equally well in period properties as they do in modern grand designs.
The Earthborn Claypaint dries very quickly so it fitted in well with CDC’s time structure and has the additional benefit of excellent obliteration properties as it is such a thick paint. Earthborn colours were chosen from their extended range but because we mix all the Claypaint right here at our shop in Stroud this wasn’t a problem – we simply had to ensure that we had enough White and Off-white (Marbles) bases in stock. Colours chosen included Ginko, Carrera Weiss, Lychee, Salvia, Vanilla and Achat. The new owners made a bold decision in choosing more unusual deep & earthy tones to sit next to light & airy colours and fits in well with their concept of a ‘boutique hotel’, forming the perfect marriage between new design and Georgian heritage.
To the back of The Pitt Hotel, Cheltenham, a brand new extension has been added keeping to the original Georgian look, but affording a great deal more space for a large dining area and additional bedrooms above. The extension allowed greater flexibility in the type of paint used as lime plasters were switched for modern gypsum varieties. The paint chosen for this section was Farrow and Ball Modern Emulsion which offers a high scrub resistance, perfect for public space interiors and of course is available in all the outstanding colours F&B have spent such a great deal of time in developing. Colours used in this section included White Tie, Cornforth White, Incarnadine, Strong White and Hague Blue, the whites also being used in the Estate Eggshell finish for most of the woodwork.
Other paints and products used on the job included Little Greene Oil Eggshell (matched to a bespoke colour), which was often used to paint the underside of their free standing baths, showcasing the attention to detail this project required! Last but not least all sorts of sundries such as Floetrol paint improvers, masking tapes and brushes were used, all of which are usual stock that we keep in store.
We congratulate Chris and Nathan at CDC who spearheaded the project along with Rod Jenner. We look forward to working with them on the many projects they have lined up for the rest of the year.
Brian Roe
Sales Manager
