| 71 CONTRACTING T T Kelly Deeks Delivering award-winning finishes The Tauranga company took out both Master Painter of the Year and Commercial Master Painter of the Year at the 2026 Master Painters New Zealand Awards of Excellence. Winning New Zealand’s top painting award is a major achievement, and doing it on a building as distinctive as Pacific Lakes Village’s Pavilion makes it even more significant for Barton Painting. The Tauranga company took out both Master Painter of the Year and Commercial Master Painter of the Year at the 2026 Master Painters New Zealand Awards of Excellence for its work on the 3000sqm community facility at Pacific Lakes Retirement Village in Papamoa. For owner and managing director Randy Barton, the project was an opportunity to work on something well beyond an ordinary commercial building. “It’s a super-fancy building,” Randy says. “It looks like a Cape Cod villa, and there was no money spared on doing this job.” Designed as the social heart of the retirement village, The Pavilion combines hospitality, recreation, and community spaces in a highly detailed architectural environment featuring extensive natural timber, a hybrid glulam and cross-laminated timber structure, cedar weatherboards, large concrete elements, bespoke interiors, and extensive glazing. Barton Painting’s work included challenging interior finishes, gib board surfaces, and perforated ceilings, where the quality of preparation and application needed to complement the architectural detailing rather than compete with it. The project also demanded close coordination with other trades throughout a complex construction programme. The Pavilion was delivered by C3 Construction, with Randy particularly impressed by the quality of the project management and the standard of workmanship across the build. “The management on this job from C3 Construction was outstanding,” he says. “We are only magnifying what has been built and working with what is put in front of us, and they were delivering some really nice stuff.” The extensive mass timber structure was one of the project’s defining features, with some of the large beams in place months before the roof was installed. Natural materials continue through the finished building, with timber detailing, parquet flooring, fireplaces, metalwork, and carefully considered interior finishes contributing to its high-end character. For Barton Painting, achieving an award-winning finish on such a project was also a chance to demonstrate what a specialist commercial painting team can deliver. Barton Painting has built its reputation over more than 30 years with a small, experienced team, including staff who have been with the business for decades. Randy says he takes his employees to the awards because the recognition belongs to them. “These guys have been showing up every day and doing the hard yards, and they deserve to get the recognition.” The Pavilion also reflects the type of commercial work Barton Painting is increasingly known for, following large-scale commercial projects including apartment developments and the Mainfreight building, with further major work on the horizon. Next door to The Pavilion, construction is under way on a wellness centre, another highspec facility Barton Painting hopes to work on. Randy says that progression comes down to relationships built through trust, reliability, and consistently delivering a high standard of work. “We do every job like it is our best job,” he says. The Pavilion combines hospitality, recreation, and community spaces in a highly detailed architectural environment. Barton Painting
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