The Role of Colour Perception in Visual Sustainability: a Survey of Senate Building Facades in Selected Universities in Southwest, Nigeria

Abstract

Colour perception is essential in the appreciation of the physical world. The inclusion of colour in the consideration of sustainable development of buildings is an important environmental and social factor which calls for distinguishing different colours for diverse building typology. This paper was aimed at identifying public colour preference for senate building facade in selected universities in southwest Nigeria, with a view to establish distinct colour scheme for office buildings. A survey research design was adopted with the stratified random sampling technique used in selecting respondents. Primary data were obtained through the administration of questionnaire to 577 users from ten selected universities. Photographs of 10 selected university senate building façade were attached to the questionnaire to serve as bases for assessing the buildings. Data was analysed using frequencies, percentages and mean ranking. The study revealed that façade colour is an important architectural element for visual sustainability and lighter shades of different colours were observed to be most preferred by the respondents in the study area. The study recommended the need for equipping the design professionals on the fundamentals of colour choices as an architectural design element for building façade attractiveness.