Library of Birmingham

The outstanding performance characteristics of Johnstone’s Trade’s products have played an important role in the development and ongoing success of one of the UK’s most iconic new buildings, the Library of Birmingham.

The library, which is located in the heart of the city, is the largest public library in Europe and took three and a half years to construct.

The building has been shortlisted for the prestigious RIBA Stirling Prize alongside London’s The Shard and Liverpool’s Everyman Theatre. It also recently won a Construction News award in the Project of the Year over £50 million category, cementing its position as one of the UK’s most iconic new buildings.

Main contractors Carillion worked with architects Mecanoo to oversee the construction of the £189 million project, with 30 decorators from Birmingham-based Midland Decorators Ltd undertaking an intensive 18-month decorating cycle.

In excess of 25,000 litres of Johnstone’s paint was specified for use on the project, including 10,000 litres each of Johnstone’s Acrylic Durable Matt and Jonmat Premium Contract Matt.

Carillion has an ongoing partnership with Johnstone’s Trade, and when it came to the high profile Library of Birmingham project, the contractor chose a brand it could trust.

Simon Dingle, Carillion operations director, said: “The painting and decorating package was always crucial to the delivery of the final wow factor of the Library of Birmingham, with Johnstone’s and Midland Decorators always up for the challenges we threw at them. A great result from a committed team.”

Richard Palmer, of Midland Decorators, said: “The Library of Birmingham has been incredibly well received both locally and nationally. It has been an absolute honour and pleasure to be involved in its construction. The pressure was certainly on us to deliver a flawless finish to reflect the quality and prestige of this stunning building, but using Johnstone’s products gave us the confidence in the result. The whole project ran incredibly smoothly and we were very impressed with the service provided by Johnstone’s from the initial specification process right through to final delivery of materials.”

Midland Decorators’ work at the library impressed the judges at this year’s Johnstone’s Painter of the Year 2013 awards, and was the overall winner in the Commercial category award.