Colour plays a powerful and emotive role in shaping the built environment, far beyond mere decoration. The visual appeal of a building’s outer skin, particularly through the use of coloured renders, can dramatically influence how architecture is perceived and experienced. More than simply blending into its setting, colour helps define and elevate a street or community. Here, Elaine Gilligan of K Rend explores how choosing the right render can transform a building’s aesthetic while triggering an emotional response from passersby.
Colour is central to many forms of art and should be given similar importance in architecture. It is often the first thing we notice on a home’s exterior and it can leave a lasting impression. Our emotional response to colour is shaped by experience. From the simplicity and innocence of white, to the warmth and energy of reds, oranges, and yellows, and the tranquility of blues, purples, and greens, colour has a profound effect on our emotions and experiences.
Across the world, colour has shaped the identities of neighbourhoods. From the colourful terraced homes of Burano to the multi-coloured townhouses of London’s Notting Hill, a wide array of both soft and bold coloured pastel tones can radiate charm and be a striking and welcoming contrast to a city’s typically grey exteriors. These Instagrammable façades have become familiar the world-over, showing the power of colour to make a strong first impression.
Inspired by the pastel trend, housebuilders and developers are moving away from identical white boxes in favour of adding colour and texture to enhance visual appeal. Through coloured renders are a popular choice, providing a low maintenance finish that removes the need for regular repainting – an attractive option for the homeowner.
The use of different colours can help to break up monotonous street scenes, creating a more dynamic and cohesive development.
Finding the perfect hue
When specifying a coloured render, context is key. The hue, tone and texture should complement the local architecture and landscape, creating a cohesive and visually appealing streetscape.
Lighter colours can make a building feel larger and more open, while darker tones add depth and drama. Textural finishes also contribute to the character, from the smooth uniformity of a fine finish to the tactile appeal of a more textured surface.
A house can also use multiple colours to build contrast, outline features and add detail. The outside of a home can be treated in the same way as the inside, ensuring everything builds a storyboard and pallet together alongside the windows, doors and tiles.
Working closely with the render manufacturer helps ensure the chosen colour and finish meets the project’s design goals. K Rend’s through coloured renders are available in 20 standard colours, with the option to colour match using the NCS colour system for bespoke shades.
Modern renders also offer a variety of finish options, from thin coat to scraped texture to roughcast and dash. Samples are essential to verify colour and texture choices.
Colourful homes
An example of colour in action is a Persimmon Homes development in Suffolk which features K Rend’s K Mono. This monocouche scraped-texture render was used in a palette of powder blue, salmon pink and ivory.
These gentle pastel tones helped to create a pretty and distinctive aesthetic across the development, avoiding the monotony of a single colour and appealing to homeowners while fitting perfectly with the picturesque historic streets of this rural area of Suffolk. The one coat, one pass application of K Mono, was ideal for a large development such as this due to its quick setting times and speed of construction.
Similarly at a detached property in Northern Ireland, a bespoke colour was developed using K Rend’s silicone thin-coat render. This allowed the housebuilder to achieve a striking shade that complemented the surrounding architecture and landscape. The ability to colour match and create renders in any shade outside the standard 20 colours available in the thin coat range, enables the housebuilder to create a truly unique and bespoke project.
Coloured renders offer housebuilders and specifiers a versatile and durable solution for creating visually striking new homes. By taking into account colour, texture and the surrounding context, an exterior façade can be transformed from a generic ‘brick box’ into a distinctive, memorable building that elicits an emotional response.
As homeowners and planners increasingly look for individuality and vibrancy in new developments, coloured renders will continue to play an increasingly important role in shaping our evolving built environment.
