Strata Painting in Melbourne CBD
The CBD has the most varied strata stock in Melbourne. A single block can hold a 1920s warehouse converted to apartments, a 1970s concrete tower, and a recent build, and each needs a different answer. Heritage overlays apply to a substantial number of CBD residential buildings, which can constrain colour, coating type and even whether a previously unpainted masonry facade may be painted at all. Access is the other CBD-specific problem: narrow streets, laneways, continuous pedestrian traffic and tight council permit conditions make setup a larger share of the cost than it would be anywhere else in Melbourne.
Heritage constraints come first
Before anything else on a CBD building, the question is whether a heritage overlay applies and what it permits. Painting previously unpainted masonry is frequently not allowed, and where a building is already painted the colour scheme and coating type may be constrained. Getting this wrong is expensive and public.
We check the overlay position before scoping and, where a permit is likely to be needed, we say so at quote stage rather than after approval. On heritage buildings we also specify breathable mineral-based systems where the substrate needs them — putting an impermeable acrylic membrane on solid brickwork that needs to breathe causes exactly the moisture problems the repaint was meant to solve.
Converted warehouses
Warehouse conversions are common CBD strata and they behave unlike purpose-built apartments. Solid masonry walls, original steel windows, exposed structural steel internally, and often very large single-volume common areas. The steel is usually the priority and the masonry the constraint.
Access in a laneway
CBD access is the hardest in Melbourne. Street frontages are narrow, laneways may be the only approach, pedestrian traffic is constant, and council permit conditions on footpath occupation and hoarding are strict and time-limited. Night and weekend work is sometimes the only viable window.
All of that is cost, and it is cost that varies more between CBD buildings than the painting itself does. We price access as its own line so a committee can see what they are paying for the location rather than the work.
Mixed use
Many CBD residential buildings have retail or commercial at ground level, which means a second set of stakeholders with their own trading hours and their own view about scaffold across a shopfront. We identify affected tenancies at scoping and build the staging around trading hours where we can.
What committees here tend to need
CBD schemes are often large, professionally managed and heavily scrutinised. The documentation matters. We supply the full pack — scope, priced schedule, insurance, SWMS, staging, communications plan and warranty — as one set.
Common Questions
Our building has a heritage overlay. Can it be painted?
It depends on the overlay and on whether the surface is already painted. Painting previously unpainted masonry is often not permitted, and where painting is allowed the colour and coating type may be constrained. We check the position before scoping and flag whether a permit is likely to be required at quote stage rather than later.
Why is access so much more expensive in the CBD?
Narrow frontages, laneway-only approaches, continuous pedestrian traffic and strict council permit conditions on footpath occupation and hoarding. On some buildings night or weekend work is the only viable window. We price access separately so you can see what is location cost and what is painting cost.
We have shops on the ground floor. How is that handled?
We identify the affected tenancies during scoping and stage the work around trading hours where it is possible. Retail tenants are a separate stakeholder from residents with a legitimate interest in not having their frontage obscured, and it is much easier to agree that before mobilising than during.
Other Areas We Serve
We also service these areas and offer these specialised services:
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