Rainbow Mural unveiled at Hilton Hawaii

And so the Rainbow is back to its colourful best. It’s been one of the most technically challenging projects we have ever undertaken, but one which proves that for our expert teams, when it comes to ceramic restoration, nothing – not even one of the biggest mosaics in the world – is too much of a tall order.

Every one of the new tiles was made right here at our factory in Stoke-on-Trent and carefully mapped out so it could be correctly installed on arrival in Hawaii. The new mural features even more tiles than the original, incorporating additional artwork by Millard Sheets’ son Tony, which our designers seamlessly incorporated.

The answer was Artile, our bespoke service which allows us to reproduce any colour, or image, onto new ceramic. Using Artile, we could exactly colour-match every single one of the original mural tiles. But we didn’t stop at a simple colour-match. It was crucial that the new mural continued to be the bright beacon and colourful backdrop for the island. And so we developed a new matt cover coating system so each tile remains vivid in the strong Hawaiian sunshine.

And so to get it exactly right, we had to get creative. High-definition photos were taken by helicopter of the original mural, every one of the 16,000-plus tiles was painstakingly and intricately examined by our experts as we faced the biggest challenge – how to perfectly replicate each tile’s original, hand-painted colour.

Every single tile of the existing mural, which once featured in the Guinness Book of Records, needed to be reproduced. Not just in size but in exact colour and texture, in keeping with the original design by renowned artist Millard Sheets, to ensure the passion and soul of Sheets’ work was preserved.

The Rainbow Mural isn’t just an iconic landmark on the island and of cultural and historical importance to the Hawaiian people, but one of the tallest mosaics in the world, stretching 31 storeys high. For the reproduction of the 286 feet high by 26 feet wide mosaics, Hilton contracted the specialist services of Johnson Tiles – recognising our long history in both restoration projects and ceramic art tile production.

Comparison photos taken via helicopter, detailed reproduction of over 16,000 individual tiles, months of manufacturing and even the development of a new ceramic coating…the restoration of the iconic Rainbow Mural at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort is finally finished.

Officially unveiled with all the ceremony of a Hawaiian blessing and dedication, the completion of this giant mural required more than 31,000 new tiles and its $4.25m restoration is testament to our skill as one of the leading ceramic manufacturers in the world.