Architecture students at the University of Edinburgh can elect to take a semester long course On Colour in Architecture in their fourth year. The course is research-led and is intended to introduce students to the principles of colour theory, how we experience colour in spatial settings, and the most common colour specification and navigation tools used in architecture, in order to establish an intellectual framework for colour design in architecture. As part of the course, students derive a colour palette from a secondary source then experiment, using painting, models and digital tools. In the final stages of the semester the focus is on the application of their knowledge and derived palette to explore a strategic approach to colour design.

Chromatic Interventions: The palette for this project was derived by asking friends around the world to document their evening meal each day for a week. The resulting palette revealed a predominance of earthy colours, yellow-reds with an awareness of the importance of contrasting hues.

Miharu Yamaguchi and Ephra Charlton Hutchinson

Hues of Heritage: Architectural Explorations  in Cultural Identity Drawing on her family’s collection of traditional and contemporary Saris, the student developed a series of palettes, but also considered the effect of pattern, form, light and shadow as the cloth is folded and draped across the body.

Simona D’Sa

The Palette of Escapism, working as a group of three, the students were interested in the shift between the subtle muted palette on the outside of a series of music venues in the city, transitions spaces of the foyers, and the exuberance of the interiors.

Chris Pirrie, Caoilin O’Meara, Matthew Johnson