DH Painter & Decorator offers commercial painting in Kings Heath, NN5, on the north-western edge of Northampton some 1.7 miles from the town centre. Business premises here fall into two groups: workshop and trade units on Kings Heath Industrial Estate, and the post-war shop parade at Park Square.
Workshops on one side, a parade in the middle
J L Womersley’s 1950 plan put a shopping centre on the central axis of Kings Heath, and an industrial estate now sits on the edge of the housing. Kings Heath Industrial Estate, around Heathfield Way and Gladstone Road, mixes trade units with small council-owned workshops, while Park Square still has shops at street level with flats above. The two need quite different approaches, so we deal with them separately. How we plan commercial jobs in general, including method statements and keeping work areas safe, is on our main commercial painting page.
Changing hands at Kings Heath Workshops
West Northamptonshire Council lets small units on the estate known as Kings Heath Workshops, with floor areas of 331 and 653 square feet. Units that size change occupier from time to time, and the outgoing business usually leaves marks on walls, floors near the door and around fixings. A repaint between occupiers is a quick job if it is planned:
- Walls washed down and filled where shelving, signs or benches have been removed.
- Hard-wearing emulsion or a suitable coating for block or rendered walls, chosen after we have seen the surface.
- Steel doors, frames and trims checked for rust, wire-brushed, treated and primed with a metal primer before the topcoat.
- Any floor-line markings or contrasting door colours agreed with the landlord or new tenant before we start.
On larger trade units we work around deliveries and opening hours, sectioning off one area at a time and keeping fire exits and loading doors clear.
Externally, metal is the main issue on the estate. Steel doors, railings and cladding trims all corrode where the coating has been knocked or scratched. Standard gloss over rust simply lifts again, so we remove loose rust back to sound metal, treat what remains, and use a primer and topcoat system made for steel. Galvanised parts need a dedicated primer before paint will adhere at all.
Park Square after the volunteer repaint
Park Square’s shopping centre won a RIBA bronze medal in 1953, but the Buildings of England volume for Northamptonshire later described it as boarded up and bleak. Its fortunes are turning: a volunteer repaint in March 2026 put cream back on the walls with black edging, with council Graffiti Taskforce money behind the next stage.
For a shop owner on the parade, that sets the standard to match. Practical points we plan around:
- Matching the cream and black scheme where your frontage sits within it, so your unit does not stand out for the wrong reasons.
- Anti-graffiti or easily recoated finishes at ground level, where tagging has been a problem.
- Keeping the entrances to the flats above usable, since residents come and go past the shops.
- Working in short sections, one bay at a time, so trade is not blocked.
Frontage joinery, fascia boards and signage areas are covered in more detail on our shopfront painting page.
Community buildings
The estate also has community premises: a community centre off North Oval, and the former Sure Start Centre that the Kings Heath Partnership has been bringing back into use. Buildings like these tend to need durable, wipeable interiors and work timed around bookings. We are fully insured for commercial work and can supply documents on request. Our Kings Heath area page covers the residential side of the estate.
Last updated by Dean, DH Painter & Decorator.
