We take on commercial painting in Sywell, which lies about 5.9 miles north-east of Northampton. The village has no shopping parade; its commercial premises are concentrated at Sywell Aerodrome, with a business park, Art Deco hotel and wartime sheds, alongside two pubs, the village hall and Overstone Lakes park.
An aerodrome instead of a high street
Sywell has no shop parade at all. Its commercial life sits at the aerodrome, which opened on the edge of the village in 1928; in 2025 about 138 businesses were registered at the site, and the site mixes very different buildings: a 1934 Art Deco clubhouse that is now a 50-room hotel, the Hangar One events space, the Pilots’ Mess cafe, the aviation museum, Second World War sheds and industrial units. In the village itself, the public-facing frontages are The Horseshoe and The Overstone Manor pubs and the Grade II listed Old School House and Village Hall.
Each of those needs its own approach, so we quote them individually rather than applying one commercial specification to all of them. A tenant in a modern unit wants a clean, durable office and a tidy entrance. A hotel or museum operator is protecting the look of a building with a story behind it. Whoever looks after the listed village hall has consent questions as well as wear to think about, and needs several years out of each repaint.
Units, sheds and steel cladding
Industrial units and the wartime sheds are largely steel and cladding, and domestic masonry paint or standard exterior gloss is the wrong product for them. Metal needs rust treatment where the old coating has failed, a primer matched to the substrate (bare steel, galvanised or previously coated cladding) and a top coat made for metal. On large elevations, access equipment for working at height is a bigger part of the plan than the paint, so we discuss it early. Inside a unit, offices, kitchens and washrooms take hard-wearing emulsions and scrubbable finishes chosen for how each space is used.
Hotel, cafe, museum and event spaces
A hotel, cafe, museum or events hangar is usually open to the public, and its bookings set the timetable. We agree the order of rooms and areas with you at quote stage, so guests, visitors and staff keep a usable route through, and dusty preparation stays inside areas that are closed off. With a 1930s Art Deco building, colour and finish deserve a conversation with the owners before anything starts, since much of that style’s character sits in its details.
In the pubs, bars, corridors and toilets take the hardest wear. Washable, scuff-resistant emulsions on walls and a durable satin on woodwork make sense there, and keeping a note of every colour used means the next touch-up between redecorations matches properly. Outside joinery on the pubs faces weather coming in off the fields and the airfield, so windows, doors and boards on the pub frontages are worth checking every few years before bare timber appears. We are fully insured for work on commercial premises.
The listed village hall
The Old School House and Village Hall dates from 1860-64 and is listed Grade II. The loggia, with its octagonal wooden columns, and the plank door are timber to repaint, while the rusticated lias and ashlar dressings should be kept free of paint. The casements carry cast-iron lozenge glazing bars, which are derusted and primed for metal before the frame colour goes on. A change of colour on a listed building may need consent from North Northamptonshire Council, so for a refresh of the hall, repainting like for like is the simplest route.
Our wider approach to business premises is on the commercial painting page, and our Sywell page covers the village and its buildings.
Last updated by Dean, DH Painter & Decorator.
