Introduction

The element of colour has long been an important factor in design and interior architecture. The history of what colour is and how it has been used within spatial environments has evolved throughout history with our understanding on how and why to use it deepening. The way in which colour is perceived and experienced is one that will differ from individual to individual. However, this difference is often overlooked to which a certain individual may be restricted by visual or psychological deficiencies ultimately affecting how they experience colour. This dissertation explores the ways in which colour is perceived both physically and mentally within the built environment, using supporting scholarly sources and case study examples. It examines and develops the usage of colour and the consideration for its usage in contemporary aged care facilities. Furthermore, it highlights the associated age-related visual and psychological deficiencies which may influence the way one experiences and navigates colour in order to promote physical and mental well-being and self-healing.

The first chapter of this dissertation, Understanding Colour and its Perception, will seek to address our understanding of colour through an understanding of historical and scholarly sources. By examining the work of Frank H. Mahnke (1996), Kurt Nassau (1997), H. D. Murray (1952), Cynthia A. Leibrock (2000), Sara O. Marberry and Laurie Zagon (1995), and Eckhard Feddersen and Insa Lüdtke (2009), this chapter will explore the understanding of colour and how it is perceived. It will further investigate how our bodies perceive colour through hue, harmony, saturation and contrast as well as how colour is perceived physically and visually through the built environment. Further discussion will highlight how colour perception can be affected through the ageing process by psychological and visual deficiencies which include yellow tinting to the lens, colour blindness and dementia, suggesting considerations which must be undertaken when selecting colour for an aged care environment.

The second chapter of this dissertation, Colour as Indicators in Aged Care Facilities, will identify the primary uses of colour as indicators within the contemporary aged care environment. The three areas of focus consist of colour as a movement indicator, behavioural indicator and social indicator. This chapter will specify the movement patterns of aged care residents, highlighting the need for colour to be used as a movement indicator in order to assist with navigation and way-finding. By outlining the behavioural patterns experienced in aged care facilities, an understanding on how colour indicators assists in creating a perception of a comfortable and safe space is generated (Mahnke 1996: 146). Furthermore, colour can be used as an indicator to define private and social spaces, allowing for designated socialisation, an important activity for elderly residents which allows a sense of belonging that attributes to their physical and mental well-being (Mozzer 2014).

The final and third chapter of this dissertation, Case Study Examples of Colour Indication Consideration in Contemporary Aged Care Facilities, will continue on with the ideas presented in the previous chapter and analyse their presence within the built environment through three case study examples which will individually focus on a seperate idea of colour as an indicator. The analysis will comprise of the Santa Rita Geriatric Centre in Menorca, Spain designed by Manuel Ocaña; the Nursing Home for the Seriously Disabled in Mattaincourt, France designed by Dominique Coulon and Associates; and finally the Torre Julia apartments in Barcelona, Spain designed by architects Ricard Galiana, Sergi Pons and Pau Vidal. Through the investigation of these three different aged care facilities, this chapter aims to exhibit how colour works successfully or unsuccessfully within a contemporary aged care environment, catering to the specified needs of patients with age-affiliated visual and psychological deficiencies.