Colour is important, for many different and complex reasons, and most of us have to live with colours other people choose. When planning new development, however, deciding which colours to use can sometimes be problematic: ‘The concept of colour is so elusive that it eludes even a majority of designers’ says architect, landscape architect and colour consultant Michael Lancaster . Those choices are often highly subjective, influenced by current ‘trends’ and fashions, and controversial. As a result, the prevailing wisdom tends to err on the side of ‘bland and conventional’ ; this is reflected in the limited and uninspiring range of colours that are commercially available for man-made building materials. It need not be this way.
Environmental Colour Assessment (ECA) is an objective process that helps to resolve many of the issues associated with colour selection and specification, especially in the external environment.
One of the aims of this Technical Information Note is to increase awareness of, and promote interest in, the ECA process, in the hope of encouraging landscape practitioners and others to further develop ECA methods and skills in practice.
