A bold new look down Carnaby Street!
With over 400 years of history, Carnaby Street has evolved to become one of the premier shopping destinations in London for global fashionistas. When a major make-over was needed to one of the store fronts, Thomann-Hanry® was on hand to lead the delicate façade restoration and repairs which were required to get the building looking its best.
Carnaby Street has been a must-visit Soho destination since the early 1960s, but its origin dates to the 1680s when Karnaby House was built (where Carnaby Street gets its name from). Within 50 years, Karnaby House had been demolished and the only part which remains is the name ‘Carnaby Street’
After the Second World War, Carnaby Street was a shabby Soho backstreet consisting of a mixture of sweatshops, locksmiths, and tailors on one side of the street and the other side being a depot for the Central Electricity Board. It wasn’t until John Stephen (later known as the King of Carnaby Street) opened the boutique ’His Clothes’ in 1957 did the street become known for its cutting-edge fashion trends.
Commercial Façade Cleaning and Restoration
Thomann-Hanry® was tasked with stripping and restoring a heavily painted brick façade, repairing and repainting several wooden sash windows of the commercial property of 46 Carnaby Street. This was due to a new internationally renowned make-up company opening a new look store on the site. To finish the restored shop façade, the three-story exposed brick façade would need to be repointed prior to the store opening.
While Thomann-Hanry® is best known for its scaffold free approach, after careful deliberation, and due to the methods required to strip the thickly painted brickwork, the decision was taken to scaffold the building.
This approach gives historic buildings such as this, the best method of surface preparation on exterior surfaces. This will deliver a result which increases the aesthetic appeal and will generate a positive first impression to passing customers. To ensure that no run-off spilled onto the street below, a gully system was built into the scaffolding to channel all waste liquids into a storage container below and prevent water pooling on the street below.
Commercial Building Paint Stripping
Once the façade has been scaffolded, a generous coating of paint stripper was applied and left to help remove the thick coating of paint (there were multiple layers of paint – the team counted over 9 different colours of varying thicknesses). Once the paint has started to bubble and soften, the Thomann-Hanry® team started to manually scrape the paint from the brickwork to reveal…. yet more paint.
A second application of paint stripper was applied and once softened, a low pressure, high temperature steam wash was then used to remove the excess paint and paint stripper. Once again, all liquids were captured in the gully system and stored in a container below, prior to being removed from site.
In areas where previous patch repairs had used concrete, these were removed to help protect the integrity of the building and replaced with a more suitable material. Time was also spent on small patch applications of more paint stripper to remove any areas of more stubborn paint.
Timber Window Painting
Once the brickwork had been cleaned, the stripping, repair and repainting of the windows then began. This allowed for the replacement of damaged and rotted woodwork within the frame and painting of the window reveal.
Prior to the removal of the scaffolding, the brick mortar was raked out and a fresh, materially appropriate mortar was applied to give the brick façade a crisp, clean appearance. The Thomann-Hanry® team also took the time to ensure any exterior building maintenance was completed to deliver a façade with structural integrity for the long term.
Commercial Façade Painting
The final task was to reattach the metal planters which had been removed prior to the scaffolding being erected; these had been stripped and repainted to add to the fresh new look of 46 Carnaby Street.
“We are delighted with the high-quality transformation we have been able to deliver to 46 Carnaby Street. For such a prestigious shopping area, ensuring this façade is returned to its original brick finish and delivering it on time to its new custodians has been a delight. This project has allowed the team at Thomann-Hanry® to show the level of precision which we can deliver to your commercial or heritage building façade renovation project.”