The Perception of Light Affected by Colour Surfaces in Indoor Spaces

Visual comfort in indoor spaces depends on the amount and quality of light available and also on space characteristics. One of the most influential aspects is the colour of surfaces defining a space. Each colour has a reflectance coefficient resulting from how much light is reflected back from the coloured surface. However, from the observer’s point of view, there are other factors that may affect visual perception of a space painted with colours. Some of them are psychological and depend on the background of the observer while other factors are physiological and are strongly connected to the sense of sight. According to this theory, architectural spaces could take advantage of the benefits of colour to improve visual responses for users. In this paper, we present a case study in which three coloured spaces with different lighting conditions were assessed by a sample of observers. At the same time, luminance and illuminance measurements were taken so as to compare these values with light perceived in the spaces. The results of this field work show the influence that colour has on the perception of light in three-dimensional spaces and contribute to the study of colour in architecture.