Color and Material Charters
Color, light and materials, with their visual and tactile qualities, bring architecture to life and shape the identities of places. Do you work on urban esthetics, enhancing heritage and integrating contemporary buildings into the urban landscape? This is exactly what we do.
We have been using our expertise, techniques, tools and passion to improve the quality of urban spaces in cities like Toulouse, Nîmes, Lille, Grenoble and Vienna since 2005.
A colors & materials charter to protect and enhance the buildings of Toulouse
The colorful city of Toulouse has become known for its emblematic pink buildings. A fascinating alchemy of colors and materials, this pink carries with it hints of the ancestral terra cotta, a diversity of building techniques and the richness of thousands of years of architectural heritage. The city’s color palette is far from monochromatic, however. It is rich and varied. It continues to evolve as old buildings are restored and new ones are built, mixing traditional materials with contemporary ones, each an emblem of its time. The city of Toulouse wanted to highlight this diversity and maintain its living memory for many years to come. The city asked Nacarat to create new tools to celebrate the architecture of yesterday and today.
The new palette is used by anyone renovating or constructing in the city: builders, architects, developers, property owners, condo associations, merchants, etc. The palette is divided into 7 guides, each designed for the architectural characteristics of one of the city’s main construction periods. Each facade is unique, so each guide specifies the characteristic traits for a facade, provides recommendations by period and explains how to use materials and associate colors to preserve and enhance the architecture and integrate it into the surrounding environment as well as possible.
- Preliminary diagnostic and color palette design by building type.
- Design of a set of tools that can be used by urban planners, professionals and residents.
- Graphic design of guides, fan color charts and educational panels for the STAP.
- Training of instructors at the urban planning department.
Link to the Color and material guides for facades of the city of Toulouse.