b'Paint green thumbsbelow: The oak leaf motif and colour palette used on the toilets appears elsewhere inaspace.ThiscanincludethingslikepaintingThey have become interesting projects for Cornwall Park, including the play surface. Walls in Resene Dell, doors in Resene Toryan element of a design in a different colour tous, he says. They are all in public spaces, which Blue, steel surfaces in Resene Gauntlet and timber soffits and accents in ReseneResene delineate its use, but also things like pictograms,are great environments to work in. I now find Ironbark coated in Resene Uracryl 403 Clear. Design and image by Citrus Studio,Dell signs and traffic signals. We know that a greenmyself going to check out toilets when on holiday. build by Tims Construction, painting by Steve Olsen Decorator Ltd. light means go and a red one means stop andWe recently did a road trip from Napier down to Resene Resene Resene Resene that green or pink paint on a roadway means aQueenstown and made a point of stopping at the Gauntlet Ironbark Tory Blue Brandy Punch lane is reserved for bicycles or buses. Anothernew toilets right on the coast outside of Kaikoura common and popular method is the decorativeto check them outbut I cant say the kids were use of colour, which can be simple things likekeen that they were composting!what hue you choose for cladding, fascias, roofs,Brentpointsoutthat,ascomponentsof for the trimsorawnings.Butitsthethirdapproachmore complex urban and park developments, tocolouruseinpublicspacesincreasinghis colourful toilet projects dont stand alone. people optical stimulation for the benefit of the usersTheyreelementsoflargerspaceswhich interaction and perception of the spacethatincludeplaygrounds,recreationareasand may be the most important at a societal level. landscaping,sooncecompleted,itsnot Accentuating public space with colour canjust a building to see but a whole area. These create awareness and bring attention to whatsprojects have given me the opportunity to work there or promote specific activities, but its alsoalongside landscape architects and playground a way of creating identity within a place. Theredesigners,whichhasbeengreat.Theother are times when we want to make componentsfreedom is that they do not need to conform of a design blend into their surroundings; thisto typical building typologies, and given that Four professionals using colour to createcan make sense for residential home design inmost people think of public toilets as bland, rural settings where you dont want to disruptconcrete block cells housing dark and smelly community ownership in shared spaces. the flow of nature. But in a shared public urbanspaces with a slightly unsafe feel to them, it has space, that shouldnt be the default approach. been liberating to break away from this. These T houghwehavegreataffinityandromanticismforourruralInthesamewaythattrafficsignstellustoilets have all started with the aim to connect areas, New Zealand and Australia are actually both highly urbanwhere we can and cant go, bright, bold andthem to the environment to allow the light, air nations. According to The World Banks DataBank, in 2020,whimsical use of colour has its own symbolismand sounds of the park to filter in rather than 86.7% of New Zealanders and 86.2% of Australians lived in urbanwhichcommunicatesthatpeoplebelonginbeing a sealed box.areas. While there are obvious cultural and societal benefits to living indisease and disability in urban areas over ruraltheir necessary doses of nature and exerciseaspace.WhetheritsaccomplishedthroughWhen I hear the phrase blend in in a project a city environment, it also has its drawbacks. ones, with some linking specific features of urbanwithout the need to venture far from home ischromaticallyinterestingmurals,sculptures,briefing from a client, I always imagine they mean Urban dwellers often have to deal with health issues that come fromenvironmentstoparticularhealthindicatorsimportant, colour is another major remedy forfootpaths,crossings,benches,playgroundthat the aim is to make a positive contribution the constant stress of being in a busy, rushed environment. Heavysuch as an increase in anxiety disorders, socialimprovingthewellbeingofcitydwellers.Weequipment or other public facilities, colour hasto the context, which I think is a much better traffic, noise and air pollution can all impair physical and mental states.phobiasandpanicdisorders.However,thereknow that if humans spend their time confinedbecome an essential part of reclaiming public Numerous studies have shown that there are different burdens ofare key ways in which design can help promoteto a concrete jungle it is not going to do theirspace and our mental wellbeing.right: Cornwall Park, Hastings, is home to these toilets designed by Brent Scottoururbanpopulationsmentalhealthandhealthanyfavours,butthecoloururbanitesWe talk to four professionals using paint todid you know?these strategies are only going to become moreneed in their lives goes beyond blue skies andmake a positive impact in the public realm.of Citrus Studio, which feature precast concrete walls in Resene Uracryl tinted toimportant as time goes on and our cities grow. leafy greenery. Luminous loosAlthough we often talk about the influenceIf you went to school for architectural design,Humans receive approximately 80 percent of Resene Dell, doors in Resene Uracryl tinted to Resene Tory Blue, timber soffits andcolour has on our mental and physical statesinterior design, landscape design, urban design orPublic toilets are not something architect Brenttheir information from their visual surroundings, accents in Resene Ironbark coated in Resene Uracryl 403 Clear, steel surfaces inwithinindoorenvironments,moreandmoreplanning, you probably learned the way colour isScott of Citrus Studio imagined hed be designingboth natural and built. Colour as a form of Resene Uracryl tinted to Resene Gauntlet and interior fibre cement lined walls inattention is being paid to the way the hues inused in built contexts can vaguely be structuredmuchof,butafteranumberofsuccessfulsensory perception is so essential to our survival Resene Brandy Punch. The project won a Resene Total Colour Commercial Exterior Award. Build by Tims Construction, www.timsconstruction.co.nz, painting by Steveour urban surroundings play. While increasinginto three categories. Firstly, there are practicalprojects with Hastings District Council, he hasthat academics have argued that colour should Olsen Decorator Ltd, images by Citrus Studio Architecture. green and active spaces where people can getuses that signal and separate the functions ofsince leaned into toilets as a niche typology. be awarded human need status.68 blackwhitemag.com blackwhitemag.com 69'