Page 94 - Australian Paint & Panel Nov-Dec 2020

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BEST PRACTICE AWARDS
BEST DEALER SHOP NEW
PAINT&PANEL NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2020
AUTOHAUS PRESTIGE
DEFINITELY ONE OF THE MOST STYLISH REPAIRERS AROUND, DAVE BUTLER HAS OVERSEEN THE CREATION OF A TRULY AWESOME WORKSHOP.
A UTOHAUS PRESTIGE’S GENERAL manager David Butler was given the dream/nightmare task of setting up a new shop for the Audi and Lamborghini and
now Bentley owners that he services. Autohaus – which has dedicated its original Five Dock site to BMW repairs – is part of the dealer group Autosports which owns over 50 luxury car dealer-
ships and six bodyshops.
It’s a dream to design your own luxu-
ry repair facility and a bit of a nightmare to find the right site in Sydney and over- see the build while still running another business. Butler immediately reached out to Mark Williams and his team at Lowbake for the workshop design and to John Bates at United Project Manage- ment who is responsible for the fit outs at many of the dealerships, for the offic- es and customer area.
The collaboration has been a fruitful one. The building isn’t that much to look at from the outside which is prob- ably a good thing given the expensive
machinery housed inside. It is situated on busy Silverwater Road. Once you step inside you find a place where lux- ury cars owners will immediately feel calm and confident that their metal steeds are in the best of hands.
You’d think this workshop would be every technician’s dream (unless they are messy ones). Every piece of equip- ment is the latest, greatest most state of the art kit on the market. While it is spa- cious, clean and extremely well laid out, it still has a ‘factory’ industrial feel to it – albeit a glamorous one.
The dealership style customer area is separated from the workshop by perfect- ly polished glass walls. Black slate floor tiles, modern seating, white walls and ceiling, it’s a minimalist and calming environment. There’s a reassuringly ex- pensive coffee machine – we assume Butler and his colleague managed to slip in a quick barista course in between all their manufacturer training
The painted workshop floor is pristine and well lit with massive bays. We have
no doubt the brand new Lowbake paint- shop with three prep bays and two spray booths will look just as brand new if we were to visit a year or two from now.
Further along the factory are the op- erating rooms each with an eye-waver- ingly expensive fit out. There’s a Celette bench in each ‘theatre room’ along with electronic measuring, dust extraction and fume extraction with all the lines neatly handing from a rail gantry. These are top of the line German-made Prowotech mixed material bays with heavy duty curtains. The panel doctors are in da house.
A testament to the workshop design is that Autohaus has been busy from day one and the workflow has been smooth and effortless, with no need for tweaking.
Upstairs offices are comfortable and stylish and there’s an awesome lunch- room overlooking the workshop, as well as the obligatory board room/ training room.
This is an impeccable facility and we dare you to fault it.
LEFT: David Butler. ABOVE: Come on, if you were a car you’d want to be fixed here, wouldn’t you?