PAINT
Choosing the right colour for a commercial building
The choice of colours, once a commercial building is complete, has always presented a challenge to many developers. Understandably, paint work is not one of the key considerations that developers grapple with at the conception of a project. Most would rather worry over completion of the physical structure, which is often the phase that takes up most of the financial resources. But what happens when the project has finally taken shape and all that is left is “finishing�? Many project owners will concede that this too poses a major challenge. The physical appeal of the building and subsequent uptake of rental or purchased space is quite often influenced by the colours that have been employed in the finish. This is why it is critical that even as the development is under way, the developer must constantly put his mind around what colour scheme to use once the 28
project is complete. There are thousands of possible colours to choose from (up to 5,000 offered by some paint manufacturers) and herein lies the question: how then does one settle on the right colour? It is a question to consider both for ew buildings and renovation works. According to Higgins Coatings, there are some standard guidelines that should help the developer come up with colours suitable for the particular development. Architectural style of the building For instance, a building could be a historical or a futuristic structure. A modern palette will look very out of place on a historical building, and vice versa. Older buildings favour neutrals and rich browns, while modern buildings experiment more with bolder colours, including orange, yellow and red.
CR | May-June 2020
Impression intended and who is to use the building Depending on the type of clientele one wishes to attract, choice of colour scheme may vary. A building that hosts advertising firms or interior design businesses may opt for bold colours while law firms may inspire more subdued colours. A hospital normally goes for white or mild blue. A kindergarten will call for several different bright colours. Colour combination that works best As a general rule, no more than three colours should be used on the exterior of a building: one for the walls, one for the trimmings and one for accents. It is a choice between complementary and analogous colours. Complementary colours are colours that are directly opposite each other on the colour wheel, such as red and green, blue and orange or purple and yellow. These
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