boldly go your own way : WHAT COLOUR CAN DO FOR ARCHITECTURE

Polychrome House, Cronulla

So many houses exhibit the same neutral colour schemes. Intended to be polite, they avoid scrutiny and arouse little passion. I believe generic colour schemes disengage the end user. Emotion and connection are kept a bay, attachments are minimised. When Yasmine Ghoniem and I unleashed the Polychrome House onto the world, the reaction was amazing – it has been published by magazines from Russia to Brazil, from Shanghai to Tel Aviv - 5 years later I regularly get tagged in reposts from around the world. It struck a chord with many people across many cultures.

Why? A modest mission brown and brick Sydney School house was transformed with a unique and carefully considered collision of colour, pattern, furniture and existing materials. The vibrant interior palette uses no less than 12 paint colours, weaving together neutrals, pastels and intense colours. It also features two murals hand painted by Lymesmith. I think it demonstrated the enormous potential that colour has to transform a tired older house into an extraordinary one.

A recent project for St Joseph’s Early Learning Centre transforms an imposing grey fibro fence (functionally a sound wall). Built to protect the playground, the fence brings striking and joyful colour play onto the street. Its design and colour play gives a strong signal about the beautiful environment and ethos of the Preschool within. The colour palette is carefully designed in response to the existing urban context and the new architecture of the Preschool by Neeson Murcutt Neille. In this sense it mediates between the two aspects of the site. It’s a satisfying conversation.

When I posted some pictures of the fence in IG stories, I received the response “Sonia, your work makes the world better”. It made my day, and I hope the fence itself becomes a beacon of welcome for 100’s of kids and their families, every day they go to pre-school.

St Joseph’s Early Learning Centre Acoustic Fence, Rosebery