Work on landmark building in the running for top
award
Work by an apprentice on a grade one listed
building could help Ian Williams scoop a top painting and
decorating award. Jason Scott’s work to repair and paint a grade
one listed former Victorian sanatorium, near Virginia Water in
Surrey led to the company putting forward an entry for the Painting
& Decorating Association’s (PDA) Premier Trophy Award.
Jason, who attends Lambeth College, says he
feels lucky he was given the opportunity to work with the team to
help restore a building regarded by many as being at the height of
Victorian architecture. Jason said: “Most of my contemporaries do
not get the chance to work on a project such as this one and I am
delighted that Ian Williams is taking the time to invest in me.
Working on Holloway Sanatorium was a great opportunity to work on
an important restorative project and it also enabled me to get
training on how to use specialist paints and able to work out of a
cherry picker accompanied by a trained operative, which I might not
have had the chance to do otherwise."
Paul Broadbent, property services manager at
Ian Williams’ South London office, said five per cent of Ian
Williams’ workforce is made up of apprentices who are offered
positions within the company at the end of their
apprenticeship. As Investors in People, we put a lot of
emphasis on training and development and we have some employees who
have been with the company for 20 years after they were first taken
on as apprentices. Jason is proving to be an excellent employee,
he’s always on time and his work is well presented. We’re delighted
to be able to support his development as he continues to
train.”
Holloway sanatorium
Holloway sanatorium opened in 1885 and
continued to provide psychiatric care until 1981 when it was left
to fall into disrepair. In 1994 Octagon submitted a scheme to
refurbish the building and in 2008 Ian Williams, in competition
with other companies, won a tender to maintain the grade one listed
building. The sanatorium was where author of Notes from a Small
Island and A Short History of Nearly Everything, Bill Bryson, met
his wife Cynthia in 1973 when they both worked at the
hospital.
Work to restore the building to its former
glory took five months to complete. Ian Williams was approached to
tender for the contract to repair and redecorate three private
residential blocks of flats and houses of which Crossland House is
the centre piece within the development.
For 14 years after it closed the building lay derelict and much of
its lead had been stolen. Water also saturated the interior,
creating massive damage to the infrastructure and decorations.
Various property developers have attempted to put together schemes
to develop the site over the years, all of which failed.
Paul added: “The work that we completed on the
building was undertaken in partnership with ICI Dulux, whose team
of experts regularly inspected the site as we progressed with the
work. Access to the property proved difficult and we had to use
large cherry pickers to help reach obscure areas.”
Ian Williams' previous PDA success
Ian Williams is in the running for the PDA’s
Premier Annual Trophy in its Decorative Category. Judges are drawn
from members of the Institute of Clerks of Works of Great Britain
Incorporated and winners will receive their trophies on June 4,
2009. The company currently holds the Judges Award For
Excellence, as awarded by the PDA. It previously won the Premier
Trophy Award’s Commercial Category for its work to transform an
Oxford prison into a luxury hotel.