Brouns & Co supports restoration of historic Wakefield buildings

Brouns & Co, a Leeds-based manufacturer of linseed paint, is supporting a £4m project to regenerate historic buildings in Wakefield.

The city's Upper Westgate Heritage Action Zone has provided grants to businesses since 2020 to enable them to renovate and invest in more than 20 historically significant buildings in the Westgate area of the city, many of which were vacant and had fallen into disrepair.

The £4m, four-year partnership initiative between Historic England and Wakefield Council, which is also focused on boosting the economic, social and cultural prosperity of the city, is using Brouns & Co's linseed paint as part of the renovation process.

The company's sustainable paint, which is produced in a range of 40 historically accurate colours, has been used on the exterior timber frontages of several of the historic buildings.

Britt Harwood of Mirfield-based Inc. Architecture, the overseeing architect on the Wakefield scheme, said: "Using linseed paint was crucial to this important regeneration project. Not only is it virtually identical to the original paint that would have been used on these buildings when they were first built, and even manufactured using the same, traditional process, it also has far superior longevity and durability to plastic-based paint.

"Brouns & Co colour-matched the historic paint shades for us and on some buildings we also used their own historic colours. The fact that they make the paint right here in Yorkshire is a bonus and has helped reduce the environmental impact of the project."

Brouns & Co linseed paint was used to restore the exteriors of Westgate's Nocturno, Flares and After Dark nightclubs, as well as the Elephant and Castle pub, among a number of listed buildings on the historic street.

For more information and the source: Brouns & Co supports restoration of historic Wakefield buildings | Insider Media