Taking care of paint specification within a healthcare setting

Paint is a key part of any healthcare refurbishment or new build project – whether it’s a hospital, care home or GP surgery. From wayfinding and wellbeing through colour choice, high-performance paints can also help to create a healthy and hygienic environment for patients, staff and visitors with minimal ongoing maintenance required.

Creating a memorable colour scheme

Colour specification can be used strategically to enhance a healthcare environment and aid mobility around a building for everyone but specifically, for people who are visually impaired or those who suffer with dementia – helping them to remain independent for longer. Crown’s in-house colour experts can work closely with our clients to devise a colour scheme which is perfectly suited to the healthcare setting in question. Different core colours for each corridor and stairwell, for example, can assist with wayfinding and help residents who may struggle with navigating their way around the building. As well as colour coding distinct areas of a building, it’s also important to bear in mind that as the eye ages, colours become duller. Stronger, richer colours are therefore more easily recognised and remembered than duller pastel shades which become difficult to distinguish between so specifying bold shades will help building users to find their way around much easily.

Keeping it hygienically clean

Surfaces in healthcare settings, more than anywhere else, need to be ultra clean. But even when surfaces look clean, they can be a breeding ground for bacteria. Specifying a paint with in-built anti-bacterial protection such as our Clean Extreme Anti-Bacterial Scrubbable Matt which inhibits the growth of any bacteria that comes into contact with the surface and prevents bacteria from multiplying, is the perfect way to counter this potential problem. It utilises innovative silver ion technology to ensure that the anti-bacterial protection can’t be washed off no matter how many times the surface is scrubbed clean. A common problem of regular and rigorous cleaning is that it can wear away the paint finish and leave décor looking tired very quickly. Our Clean Extreme range is formulated so that it can withstand being repeatedly scrubbed over longer periods without any detriment to the appearance by minimising the amount of paint film that is removed each time. The Clean Extreme Scrubbable Matt has a Class 1 rating on the ISO11998 testing method and is scrub resistant up to 10,000 scrubs.

Safe and secure

For healthcare settings, considering fire safety is equally as important as creating a hygienic environment. Our range of fire retardant Timonox products, which have been formulated for use on new and previously painted wall and ceiling surfaces, offer healthcare specifiers additional peace of mind. The Timonox range has been independently tested to provide a Class 0 rating against the surface spread of flames. That doesn’t make walls and ceilings resistant to fire – but, crucially, it can slow the spread of fire over a building’s surfaces – buying more time for the building to be evacuated. The Timonox range also includes products which combine flame retardance properties with excellent stain resistance and scrubbablity, or resistance to graffiti, to provide all-round high-performance for a long-lasting finish for any healthcare setting. Crown Trade’s high-performance products including Clean Extreme and Timonox can also be tinted to match any RAL shade to match any colour scheme – so there’s no need to compromise on aesthetics when choosing high performance.