19th February 2026

What is the true impact of colour on wellbeing?

In February, Laura took part in a roundtable hosted by RIBAJ and Dulux to discuss how to harness the power of colour in architectural projects especially in healthcare, education and housing. The session was written up and published in the Journal as part of the flexible RIBA CPD programme.

'Laura Carrara-Cagni of Cagni Williams described how she had researched colour in order to have a more scientific approach to choice, something that has been “incredibly useful” when talking to clients. This includes the use of harmonic colours to help other hues shine. For her, a more psychological attitude to colour comes after this more scientific reasoning. They described a recent hospital project where orange was chosen after the structure changed from timber to steel; previously, yellow had been proposed to complement the timber. This provided a useful rationale in response to some perceptions that the colour related to a particular faith, or one of the local football teams.'

Thanks to Chris Foges, Contributing Editor of RIBAJ and Dawn Scott, Senior Colour Designer at Dulux.

Midland Metropolitan University Architects are HKS, Cagni Williams and Sonneman Toon.

Read the full article published in the Journal of the RIBA on 19 February 2026.

Or download a PDF here