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The WA Museum Boola Bardip redevelopment required a coating strategy that could protect heritage fabric while coping with moisture-moving sandstone, lead-paint removal, daily visitor traffic, repeated cleaning and difficult museum lighting. Dulux’s project case study reports a coordinated specification: heritage-sensitive colour and finish testing, moisture-tolerant products for historic masonry, matte interior finishes to control reflections, and washable wall coatings in high-use areas.
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Those choices describe the project team’s reported approach, not an independent product trial. The available sources do not establish comparative laboratory results or post-occupancy coating performance, so the case study is best used as a record of decisions made for this particular museum rather than a universal specification for every heritage building.
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What the WA Museum Boola Bardip project involved
Boola Bardip is the redevelopment of the Western Australian Museum in Perth’s Cultural Centre. Government descriptions identify a new building alongside five revitalised heritage buildings, making the work both a major construction project and a conservation exercise.
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The museum opened on 21 November 2020. The Government of Western Australia described it in its 2020 opening statement as a A$400 million State Government infrastructure project that supported 3,300 jobs. The same statement says the development’s content and visitor experiences were informed by direct engagement with more than 54,000 people across Western Australia. Separate cultural-infrastructure guidance from the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries gives a project value of A$395.9 million and nearly 6,000 square metres of galleries. The difference is a matter of source and rounding: A$400 million is the government’s public opening figure, while A$395.9 million is the more specific figure in the departmental guidance.
In November 2025, the Western Australian Museum marked five years since opening and reported that Boola Bardip had won the WA Tourism Awards’ Major Tourist Attraction gold award for a third consecutive year. That recognition concerns the visitor attraction, not the performance of its coatings.
Culture and the Arts Minister David Templeman said at the opening that the museum would be “a vibrant centre of inspiration, learning and enjoyment for people of all ages.” The statement explains the civic ambition of the project; it is not evidence about paint durability or conservation performance.
The coating constraints the design team had to solve
Lead paint could not simply be covered
Dulux’s case study says lead paint was identified in the original heritage buildings. The stated requirement was to strip it rather than paint over it, then repaint the surfaces so their appearance aligned with the buildings’ original paintwork. That creates two separate obligations: safe removal and a visually appropriate finish after the substrate has been prepared.
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On a heritage project, a colour that looks acceptable on a new wall may be visibly wrong beside retained joinery, metalwork or masonry. Matching the historic appearance therefore involves more than selecting a contemporary colour-card swatch.
Historic sandstone moves moisture
The case study highlights original sandstone masonry as a particular risk. The stone absorbs and transfers moisture, so a coating that forms an unsuitable modern film can trap water or fail as moisture moves through the wall.
For the Boola Bardip work, the case study reports that Porter’s Paint was specified on relevant masonry because it would allow moisture transfer from the historic sandstone. It also says a modern paint would not have lasted in that environment. This is the supplier’s project rationale, not a conservation rule that applies to every sandstone building; the correct product still depends on the stone, salts, damp source, preparation and exposure at the individual site.
Busy galleries need repeatable cleaning
Museum walls are touched, brushed by bags, marked by equipment and exposed to high visitor circulation. Cleaning cannot be an occasional maintenance event when galleries operate every day. Dulux reports that heavily used interior walls were specified with Dulux Wash & Wear because they needed consistent cleaning while accommodating daily visitor traffic.
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Lighting and glazing amplify reflections
Museum displays combine strong artificial lighting with glass cases and other reflective surfaces. Dulux’s account says harsh fluorescent installation lighting and reflective glass created glare and reflections that had to be controlled through interior finish selection. Matte finishes were used in response, and dark colours were selected in some areas to make marks and dirt less conspicuous.
How Dulux says the team developed the finishes
Original coatings were tested across substrates
The case study says Dulux colour specialists tested original coatings and carried out Dumond testing of substrates in each building. The purpose, as described by Dulux, was to understand the existing finishes before setting the repainting approach across different heritage structures.
That approach matters because a single museum redevelopment can contain plaster, masonry, timber, pressed metal and previously painted details, each with a different history of repairs and moisture exposure. Testing a representative area in each building is more informative than assuming that one preparation and one finish will behave identically everywhere.
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Matte finishes were a lighting-control decision
Interior matte finishes were not presented as a purely aesthetic preference. Dulux links them directly to reducing reflected light from fluorescent fixtures and display glass. In galleries, lower sheen can make wall reflections less distracting, but the finish still has to tolerate the cleaning regime required by the space. The project therefore treated sheen, colour and maintenance as connected decisions rather than independent selections.
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Products named in the project schedule
The following products appear in Dulux’s case-study schedule. The table records the reported application; it does not rank products or establish that they are interchangeable.
| Reported application | Named product or system | Reason or constraint described |
|---|---|---|
| High-traffic interior walls | Dulux Wash & Wear | Selected for surfaces requiring consistent cleaning amid daily visitor traffic. |
| Painted interior pressed-metal ceilings | Dulux Wash&Wear Matt and Dulux Professional Total Prep | Listed for the ceiling finish and associated preparation in the interior schedule. |
| Historical sandstone masonry | Porter’s Paint | Specified, according to the case study, to permit moisture transfer through the sandstone. |
| Exterior timber doors, window frames, trims and eaves | Intergrain UltraClear Exterior Matt | Named for exterior timber elements where a clear matte appearance was required. |
| Aged, uncoated bare brick walls | Porter’s Lime Wash and Undercoat Sealer | Listed for the treatment of old bare brick surfaces. |
| Below-ground waterproofing | Fosroc Primer 24 and Proofex 3100 HDPE rolls | Included in the schedule for below-ground waterproofing work. |
| Street-level waterproofing | Fosroc Nitoproof Liquid Systems and Proofex 3100 HDPE rolls | Included for waterproofing at street level. |
The schedule shows that “paint” was only one part of the envelope and interior specification. Primers, liquid waterproofing and sheet membranes addressed preparation and water exclusion, while separate finishes were assigned to masonry, timber, pressed metal and high-contact walls.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.A practical decision framework for comparable heritage projects
The Boola Bardip case is useful because it links each coating decision to a physical or operational constraint. For another heritage museum, gallery or civic building, evaluate the following questions in order.
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1. Identify the substrate and its moisture behaviour
- Record whether the surface is sandstone, brick, plaster, timber, pressed metal or a modern repair.
- Determine where moisture enters, where it travels and whether salts or previous impermeable coatings are present.
- Do not specify a finish solely from its colour or sheen; confirm that it is compatible with the substrate and the building’s drying path.
2. Establish the conservation objective
- Decide which original paint evidence must be retained, matched or interpreted.
- Test existing layers before widespread removal, especially where lead paint is suspected.
- Document approved colours and sheen levels for each building rather than relying on one site-wide assumption.
3. Map cleaning and contact loads
- Separate low-contact display walls from corridors, entrances and service routes.
- Define the cleaning frequency, detergents and tools that operations staff will actually use.
- Choose a finish that can withstand that regime without forcing aggressive scrubbing that could damage historic fabric.
4. Model glare before final colour approval
- Review the finish under the installed lighting, not only under daylight or a decorator’s lamp.
- Check walls opposite glass cases and other reflective surfaces at visitor eye level.
- Use sample panels to compare matte and higher-sheen options; record how dark colours affect perceived marks, wayfinding and display contrast.
5. Specify by application, not by brand family
A product suitable for a washable wall may be wrong for a damp masonry wall, a timber window frame or a pressed-metal ceiling. The Boola Bardip schedule assigns different systems to those conditions. A similar project should require a written substrate-and-application schedule, including preparation, primer, finish, sheen and location.
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6. Separate supplier claims from verified evidence
Ask whether a statement comes from a manufacturer case study, a project specification, an independent test or post-occupancy monitoring. Dulux’s Boola Bardip account documents the reported choices and their intended reasons, but the available sources do not provide comparative test scores, an independent assessment of competing coatings or a post-occupancy study of the finished surfaces.
What this case study does—and does not—prove
The project demonstrates a coherent way to align coatings with heritage and operational constraints: remove hazardous legacy paint rather than encapsulating it by default; investigate original finishes; allow moisture-sensitive masonry to behave appropriately; reduce reflections with matte interiors; and reserve washable wall systems for areas that must be cleaned repeatedly.
It does not prove that every listed product will perform the same way on another building. Sandstone porosity, damp sources, previous coatings, cleaning chemicals, visitor loads, lighting and workmanship can all change the result. Nor does the case study establish that the named products outperform alternatives. There are no independent comparative results or published post-occupancy coating measurements in the sources available for this project.
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How to use the Boola Bardip example in a specification
- Survey each building separately. Map substrates, previous coatings, moisture paths, heritage significance and areas of public contact.
- Test before committing. Use controlled samples to identify original colours, confirm preparation requirements and observe drying, adhesion and sheen under the intended lighting.
- Resolve hazardous coatings safely. Where lead is present, engage appropriately qualified professionals and follow applicable Australian removal, containment and disposal requirements.
- Write a location-specific schedule. Name the substrate, primer, finish, sheen, colour, preparation standard and cleaning expectation for every area.
- Review samples with all disciplines. Conservation, architecture, facilities, lighting and exhibition teams can identify conflicts that a paint sample alone will not reveal.
- Commission and document the work. Keep batch details, approved sample references, preparation records and maintenance instructions so future repairs do not erase the conservation decisions.
- Monitor after opening. Record cleaning-related wear, moisture movement, glare complaints and local failures; use those observations to refine maintenance rather than assuming the initial specification is universally transferable.
For Boola Bardip, Dulux reports that this process led to different solutions for different materials and uses. The strongest lesson is therefore not a single “best paint,” but the discipline of matching a coating system to the building’s history, physics, lighting and day-to-day operation.
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