Gore Firm Brings Home Gold at Master Painters Awards

May 27, 2013

Gore Firm Brings Home Gold at Master Painters Awards

Supreme winner_Kim McDowall Decorating_Howl at The Moon

Revamping a vibrant restaurant and bar while it remained open for business, was a tall order. But Gore’s Kim McDowall Painting & Decorating’s willingness to work around the clock and exceptional workmanship earned them the coveted title of ‘Master Painter of the Year.’

The Master Painters Awards, now in their fifth year, are proudly sponsored by Dulux, and were presented at a gala ceremony in Palmerston North on Saturday night (25 May, 2013).

Gore’s Howl at the Moon Restaurant & Bar needed a contemporary new look. It needed re-wallpapering, re-jibbing and re-tiling. It also needed to stay open and operational. Kim McDowall Painting & Decorating managed to not only meet this brief, but to also produce the most “exceptional” painting of 2012.

Judge Brian Miller, CEO of Master Painters New Zealand, said the restaurant renovation nudged ahead of the competition because “their relationship with the client was clearly outstanding. Adding to this, their workmanship and attention to detail was exceptionally high.”

Kim McDowall Painting & Decorating also won the title of Commercial Master Painter of the Year and two category awards including Commercial Rework Interior – Contemporary, and Commercial Wallcoverings. All wins were for the restaurant revamp.

On the homes front, the Residential Master Painter of the Year title went to Sideshow Bob’s Painting in Taumarunui, for its portfolio of work on three family and holiday homes in the central North Island district.

Miller said the field this year was incredibly tight. “The consistency of highly detailed, highly finished work across the projects was outstanding. There was only a fraction of difference in points between winning entries.”

“The spread of winners this year has been proof that painters in smaller towns can match the skill and craftsmanship of big city painters stroke for stroke. They have just as much chance of walking away with the top prizes – as Gore’s Kim McDowall Painting & Decorating has proven.”

Winners in the 24 commercial and residential categories were from painters as far north as Whangarei, down to Invercargill, with multiple award wins in the central North Island, Auckland, Manawatu, and Dunedin, for a variety of projects including a 108 year old heritage homestead in South Canterbury, the re-conceptualisation of a Wharenui at Hamilton’s Wintec university and a new look for a 1920s school hall at Palmerston North Girls High School, large painting tasks at the Linton Army Military Camp and the Royal New Zealand Airforce Base in Ohakea, and a pro bono effort at the Manawatu Rugby House.

The painters were judged on a raft of technical factors, including the degree of project difficulty; evenness of surface coatings, detail of finishing; colour phases and overlays; and evidence that the contractor had taken extra care when completing the project.

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