Cleaning for art spaces and exhibitions
How cleaning works in a gallery and an exhibition hall
Cleaning around the artworks without touching them, white walls and plinths left unmarked, vitrine glass without fingerprints and a night shift after the opening — built around how an exhibition space in Dubai actually lives: installs, changes of exhibition and evening events.
Cleaning that protects
the exhibition
We look after galleries, exhibition halls, art spaces, design showrooms and fair venues — from a single room to a complex with a workshop and storage.
A generalist cleaning contractor turns up with an office routine: mops the whole floor, sprays chemicals next to the works and wipes the plinth along with the label. One pass like that costs more than a year’s contract.
Why an exhibition hall
can’t run on an office protocol
Four reasons. Pick one and see what it means for the contractor.
The work must not be touched
Cleaning happens around the works at an agreed distance: no contact, no leaning on a plinth, no spraying towards the exhibition. The distance and the access rules are set by the curator, not by the cleaner.
The distance to the works and the rules for entering the halls are agreed with the curator and written into the site plan.
White shows everything
White walls, plinths and a resin floor are the main surface of the hall. A fingerprint, dust or a mop mark shows from three metres away, so the work is done with microfibre and the product goes onto the cloth, never sprayed.
The product goes onto the cloth, never sprayed: aerosols near the exhibition are not allowed.
An install calendar, not a working day
A hall doesn’t have shifts but phases: install, opening, exhibition, de-install. After a de-install there’s construction dust and fixings; before an opening there’s a spotless hall to produce in one night.
After a de-install the hall is signed off separately: construction dust is cleared before the new exhibition arrives.
Events finish late
After an opening there are glasses, marks on the floor and rubbish, and in the morning the hall opens to visitors. The work happens at night, in a tight window, with a crew rather than one person.
The full pass happens before opening or at night; while visitors are in, an attendant covers the touchpoints.
What we do in the halls
The areas we
answer for
Tap an area on the plan to see where the risk sits and what we do about it.
Entrance and box office
The first thing a visitor sees, and the most visible glass on the site.
Several rounds a day: glass, desk, terminal, mat, touchpoints.
Exhibition halls
The main area, and the one where a mistake costs the most.
Floor along the route without entering the exhibit zone, skirting and corners, base dry wiped.
Vitrines and plinths
Glass and white surfaces at hand height — fingerprints show immediately.
Microfibre and product on the cloth, never sprayed. Distance to the works per the access plan.
Event space
After an opening the hall has to open in the morning in exhibition condition.
Night shift: glasses taken out, marks on the floor, rubbish, set out to the venue plan.
Workshop and storage
This is where things are unpacked and assembled — the source of dust and packaging for the whole hall.
Cleaned after every install, packaging removed, dusting without moving any crates.
Washrooms and cloakroom
On opening days the footfall is several times the usual.
Treated several times a day, dedicated equipment, consumables restocked, signed off on the checklist.
Measured on site,
reported to you
The KPI and SLA framework is set for your site at launch, so quality can be checked rather than taken on trust.
What the client
facilities teams
Four things facilities teams answer for in front of their own management — and that we take on.
A site manager and a supervisor by name and direct number, not a general office line.
Glass, floors and plinths are signed off before the first visitor, not finished off around them.
Distance to the works, the ban on aerosols near them and the access rules are written into the site plan.
Microfibre by area, products without aggressive solvents and safety data sheets sit with the contractor.
You don’t notice the right contractor while things go well — and they prove their worth the moment something goes wrong.
How many people
and hours a hall needs
Set the area and the schedule — you get the crew size, hours on site and a price range. The exact figure comes after the survey.
A day attendant is a cleaner who works during visitor hours: vitrine and door glass, touchpoints, shoe marks on the base, rubbish in the seating areas. They work spot by spot, with no buckets in the walkways and no wet floor underfoot.
Clear terms,
a straightforward start a straightforward start
Tap a stage to see what happens on site and what you get at the end of it.
Survey
A walk of the halls with the curator, areas measured, an access plan with distances to the works.
Quote
Method statement by hall, a schedule fitted to the install and event calendar, and the price.
Launch
Crew briefed on the venue’s rules, equipment delivered, an initial deep clean.
Full operation
First quality inspection, checklist and access plan adjusted, SLA report.
Tell us
about the site
Send us the area and the shift pattern — we’ll arrange a survey and have your quote ready within five working days.
Al Barsha, Dubai, UAE