Reviving Trafalgar

As part of a major reinstatment programme of the former Whitehall Theatre, PDA Member firm UK Decs Ltd were contracted to complete the all important finish.

UK Decs Ltd completely repainted the Trafalgar Studios in London during the very difficult period, at the heart of the covid pandemic. The grade II listed building has undergone a major multi-million pound restoration project to reinstate the theatre back to its original heritage 1930’s design, some of which has not been seen for over 90 years.

Working under the instruction of architects Foster Wilson Size, the decoration began in August 2020, where one of the main stumbling blocks was only being allowed to have four people on site at any given time.

Original beams, plaster work and mouldings all needing to be re-instated and finished to a very high standard. Having initially priced up the project, this soon had to be developed into a completely different schedule of works as every wall that was stripped or uncovered revealed a new set of challenges to deal with, this led to UK Decs having to adopt a 24hr working site to meet the deadline agreed.

To meet government safety regulations, all the main walls throughout had to be painted in fire proof paint, which during the pandemic was extremely hard to source.

Embossed wallcoverings were ‘picked out’ using metallic paints, which was made a little easier by the construction of a birds eye scaffolding, alongside scaffolding at lower level.

After a challenging nine months UK Decs of adapting to a new way of working, the renovation was finally completed in May 2021 ready for the opening of the award-winning Jersey Boys.

UK Decs Ltd are Members of the PDA based in Ashton-Under-Lyne with national coverage. You can find them online at www.ukdecs.co.uk or call them on 01457 837600