This June, in celebration of the London Festival of Architecture, we are proud to launch a special 4-week editorial series spotlighting the architects shaping our built environment, and the colours that shape their vision.
We’ll be speaking with architectural practices we admire and collaborate with, exploring how colour influences the way we design, feel, and function in our spaces. From residential sanctuaries to public places, each interview will reveal how colour plays a vital role in human-centric design, emotional wellbeing, and creative identity.
To launch this series, we talked to Kevin Haley, of Kevin Haley Studio, who we are proud to be collaborating with on future projects.
"Grounded in a shared belief in what colour can do, it’s exciting to be working together on upcoming projects, where colour isn’t just a finishing touch, but the place we begin.” says Kevin Haley.
We believe colour isn’t just a surface choice, it’s a tool for storytelling, a reflection of values, and a sustainable design decision. Through this series, we’ll highlight the powerful intersection of architecture, emotion, and colour, and celebrate the studios leading this thoughtful design evolution.
1. How do you approach the use of colour in your architectural concepts?
We treat colour not as surface, but as spatial strategy. It can carve out territory, signal behaviour, or deepen atmosphere — a quiet sophistication that layers meaning onto space. It’s narrative, emotion, orientation. Whether playful or grounded, colour is how we build memory into architecture.
2. How have colour and finishes shaped your architectural work?
Landscape for Play, a collaboration with QMH Studio in Madrid, transformed a cultural venue into a terrain for imagination. Geometries borrowed from Aldo van Eyck were amplified with a bold graphic palette — not just to delight, but to encourage agency. Colour helped children and adults alike stake out space, invent games, and feel welcome. It wasn’t decorative — it was structural to the experience.
Landscape for Play | Image credit: Lukasz Michalak
3. What matters most in paint: sustainability, durability, colour or technical performance?
If we’re working with communities — which we often are — the paint has to be intuitive: the kind you can roll straight on without fear or fuss. On projects where sustainability is key, low-VOC and low-waste products are a must. But what matters most is quality — depth, coverage, consistency across surfaces. And dare I say it: when the digital swatch actually matches the real-world result? That’s magic.
4. What impact do you believe colour has on spatial experience and user wellbeing?
Colour can shift how we feel, how we move, how long we stay. It can anchor calm, stir joy, signal permission. We think of it as emotional infrastructure — tuning a space to human frequency. You feel it before you notice it. It’s atmosphere with agency.
Public Mountain | Image credit: Elizabeth Cox
5. How are you seeing colour being introduced in contemporary architecture?
There’s a growing confidence — thankfully. Bolder gestures in the public realm, unapologetic interiors, cultural projects that don’t shy away from play. But the most exciting uses aren’t loud — they’re layered. Colour as cue, as code, as context. Not just added on, but built in.
6. What advice would you give to clients and developers exploring bold colour?
Colour doesn’t have to scream to be bold. It can tell a story — draw from a place’s history, posters, packaging, or signage. Think less “Instagram moment,” more “cultural memory.” It’s not about showing off. It’s about embedding character. The right colour doesn’t just decorate space — it roots it.
Berners Bar | Image credit: Simon Kennedy
We're honoured to feature Kevin Haley as part of our guest editorial series for the London Festival of Architecture. His insights remind us that colour is never just a finishing touch, it's a structural, emotional, and cultural force in design. At YesColours, we're passionate about elevating these conversations around colour and its role in creating spaces that feel as good as they look. Stay tuned for more perspectives from architects who are redefining the way we live with colour.
