Some design codes require specific roof and wall colours. This can be for energy efficiency, Sometimes it is for aesthetics or amenity. This bulletin explores the issues of aesthetics and amenity and suggests possible design standards.
The colours of roofs and walls may be an important aspect of a neighbourhood’s character. For example, Santorini in Greece is known for its white walls, and Jaipur in India is renown as the ‘pink city’. In Australia, controls on the exterior colour of houses tends to be in estates in sea-change or tree-change locations; that is, where the market is affluent buyers looking for a holiday home or a place to retire.
The design code of the Oakdene estate at Ocean Grove, Victoria includes the objective: “Material and colour palettes should reflect the preferred natural coastal character." The associated design standards include: “The use of materials such as exposed natural timber, natural stone and more natural colour tones is encouraged. If an adjacent lot has been built upon, consideration of the materials and/ or colours of the existing dwelling on that lot should be taken into account.”
A street in Point Lonsdale with sand-coloured driveways and informal planting.
The Arches, Port Campbell is another estate on the Victorian coast. Its ‘Vision’ includes an objective to “enhance and protect the character of Port Campbell by encouraging the delivery of a community that embodies coastal character.” The Style and Built Form controls state: “The use of natural colours that blend in with the environment is encouraged. Metal roofing and wall cladding should not be selected from heritage colour ranges.”
Houses in Point Lonsdale with light ‘coastal’ colouring.
Shorehaven is a coastal estate at Alkimos, about 40 km north of Perth, Western Australia. The colour palette applies to walls, roofs and fencing. It is intended to be in keeping with the coastal environment and to keep the houses and the estate cool.
The Shorehaven colour palette.
Dinner Plain is a small town surrounded by Victoria’s Alpine National Park. Development started in 1986. The master plan included careful controls to shape the desired character, one that is sympathetic and complementary to the alpine environment of snow and snow gums. The controls have now been incorporated into the Alpine Planning Scheme.
“Subdued colour schemes throughout each house in the walls, roof and trim details so as to blend harmoniously with the snow gums.“ (Page 7, Schedule 1 to the Dinner Plain Special Use Zone, Alpine Planning Scheme.)
Typical views of the buildings and landscapes at Dinner Plain.
To blend in with the surrounding coastal environment, Exmouth in Western Australia has adopted a roof and wall colour palette guide. It requires the roofs of new buildings to use one of the following Colorbond colours - Mangrove, Pale Eucalypt, Manor Red, Dune, Paperbark, Classic Cream, or Surfmist. The intention is to achieve a high-quality visual streetscape and strengthen the identity of the town. (Colour palette for developments, Local Planning Policy 1, Shire of Exmouth, April 2021)
Part of the Exmouth colour palette.
Valley Lake is an estate in Keilor Victoria. Most of the site is a steep north-facing hillside. People in the uphill houses tend to look onto the roofs of the lower houses, and glare from those roofs was a potential problem. To avoid this amenity issue, the design code included the following design standard.
“… roof materials must comply with the colour palette; roof sheeting must be non-reflective; roof tiles must be unglazed or matt finish; and roof colours must be limited to simple greys, and greyish hues of greens and browns consistent with the colour palette.” (Valley Lake Stage 9 Siting and Design Controls, page 33)
Valley Lake’s design code prohibits dark and reflective roofs.
