Colour Design Applications
Minto House, Elliot Room, University of Edinburgh
As part of an extended project to improve the quality of shared teaching rooms across the central campus, the colour design transformed a white painted seminar room into a warm and welcoming space using earth colours of terracotta and a yellow ochre, combined with two warm greys. The room is very distinctive with an exposed, black stained timber pyramid roof, a remnant of one of the original brewery vat towers. Deep set windows with angled ingoes show the thickness of the original stone walls. The colour is used to draw attention to the architectural form.
Room before colour design installation
Minto House lower ground floor,
University of Edinburgh
In the mid 1970s, three existing buildings including a brewery and a church were linked and converted into the Architecture school. The resulting extended circulation can be confusing, with a meandering route and several level changes. Following a major fire in the building in 2002, the spaces were re-configured. The alterations improved the accommodation and created a series of foyers and corridors but these lacked any differentiation and felt dull and uninspiring. The colour strategy improves wayfinding and gives more character to these transition spaces. The design uses tonally deep colours in an affective, rather than a decorative manner, to define volumes and help with wayfinding. There are a few fragments of structure, two engaged columns and a series of double beams that were also painted in the dark colour to bring the structure to more prominence and legibility. A bright and saturated greeny-yellow, was used in vertical panels at strategic junctions on the route to signify the most important direction. Although there was no budget for improving the lighting, the colour design shifts the experience of moving through the building.
Old College Playfair Stair and Reception Foyer, University of Edinburgh
The Playfair Library on the south side of the Old College quadrangle is one of the University’s most significant architectural spaces. The library (not included in the colour design) is accessed via the main University Reception, a short corridor and the double height volume of the Playfair Stair. A new colour design was implemented for these spaces.
The stair lacked presence and its off-white colour scheme was bland. The walls are hung with gilt framed portraits. The new colour design emphasizes the form and leads the visitor up to the library. Introducing an asymmetrical wrap of a deep indigo blue to emphasize the movement on the stair has allowed the lower hall to be re-imagined by University Research Collections staff with contemporary artwork. A neutral colour on the upper landing contrasts with the stair walls and forms a prelude to the library.
The indigo colour used would have been available in the early nineteenth century and has a chalky appearance. The engaged columns and cornices are then brought forward using an off-white with fine gilt lines that pick up the light and work with the heavy gilt picture frames.
Stair before colour design installation
A further project for the University Estates and in consultation with staff, addressed the main reception space. It had been lined in a vibrant red silk wallpaper as a backdrop to varied paintings and photographs. It is an extremely important space to set the tone of the University as a welcoming, contemporary institution but with a 450-year history. The main pedestrian route across the space to access the Playfair Stair cuts across the rectangular space on a diagonal line. The colour gives a subtle direction to the visitor. A deep heather /plum is used on the east wall to punch out the white reception desk and anchor the space. A vertical stripe of yellow ochre directs the eye to the more significant of the two doors. A chalky mid-green on the other walls provides a unity to the volume and allows for the curation of a series of photos.
The deep heather colour is continued through the small connecting corridor, effectively compressing the feeling of the space before opening up to the dramatic volume of the main stair.
Evolution House reception,
ECA/ University of Edinburgh
Minor alterations to introduce a touch of colour to reduce the somewhat corporate feel of Evolution House, originally designed by Reiach and Hall Architects as a speculative office and subsequently used by Edinburgh College of Art. A gold-yellow applied on the angled soffit of the lower section of ceiling aims to draw attention to the reception. Similarly, the yellow is used in a small area at low level to lead the visitor towards the stair and exit point. A green glow from hidden light fittings, installed as part of the original design, is then complemented by pink tinted light introduced with a gel filter applied to one window giving more character and attention to an informal breakout and social space at the foot of the stair.
