The 400 single and 113 double study bedrooms plus four studio flats all boast en-suite facilities, fully fitted furnishings and separate telephone and data points for high speed internet access. The standard of décor throughout is equally high. Marriott Construction specified that every single one of the 700 rooms in the building and all the corridors, foyers and stairwells were to be painted with new Clean Extreme Scrubbable Matt from Crown Trade. The newly launched coating was proposed to Marriott and their client by Selwyn Lloyd of I D Lloyd & Sons of Wellingborough, one of the region’s largest and most well-established painting and decorating contractors. The company carried out the decoration work to a tight schedule this summer, with up to 15 directly employed operatives on site at any one time, helping Marriott to complete the entire project well ahead of their deadline.
Original plans for the interior décor featured a wide palette of colourways and the use of vinyl silk on all broadwall areas. However Marriott Construction put forward a comprehensive series of arguments for using an even tougher, more durable coating but in a very flat matt finish, and in a single colourway, all the way through Liberty Park. When the aesthetic, technical and practical benefits of the new Crown Trade coating were fully recognised the specification was switched to Clean Extreme Scrubbable Matt in White.
Sev Cataldo, Contracts Manager for Marriott Construction explained: “Liberty Park will be a heavily trafficked, full occupancy building and will provide accommodation for hundreds of young people from September onwards. We wanted to give the new premises the maximum level of protection against scuffs, scrapes and accidental spills and splashes, and to do everything possible to extend the redecoration cycle for our client. Clean Extreme Scrubbable Matt has been specifically formulated to combat constant ‘abuse’ in this type of environment and also to withstand permanent soiling. If walls do become dirty, the coating has a tough washable formulation and can be scrubbed clean time and time again without any deterioration in aesthetic finish.”
As Sev revealed, there were a number of benefits gained by Marriott Construction and their decorating contractors from the change in specification: “This was a fast track new build and fit-out project, and anyone used to working on busy sites like these knows that newly decorated pristine surfaces can so easily become chipped and damaged as all the furnishings and fixtures and are brought in and fitted. Where any damage did occur it was very easy to patch up and quickly make the walls look good as new with Clean Extreme Matt. The flat matt finish was so much more forgiving than silks in this regard and of course we only had one colour to worry about, wherever last minute repairs might be needed.”
“We also found that the new Crown Trade coating gave a completely uniform finish with fantastic opacity on freshly skimmed surfaces,” Sev continued. “There were no tell tale signs of plasterboard joints showing through at all, not even in bright sunlight when you might expect to see faint signs of relief in the substrate.”
“We’re very pleased with the decision we took to change the interior décor specification on this project. Using Crown Trade Clean Extreme Matt has already made life easier for all of us working at the site and will continue to benefit Liberty Living in the future.” 
“We’re also delighted with the standard of work I D Lloyd carried out for us. We’ve been working with the company for more than twenty years and they consistently give us an excellent standard of service and craftsmanship. Their work at Bedford University was no exception.
“Thanks to Crown Trade and to Selwyn and his team, the first intake of students moving into Liberty Park will enjoy a very high standard of décor and if Clean Extreme Scrubbable Matt lives up to all our expectations, students who follow in years to come will continue to reap the benefits.”
