Nikkilä Colour Analysis
Extracting Nikkilä’s actual palette of building colours from hundreds of geotagged street photos, using computer vision — turning a subjective design question into area-specific, RAL-coded planning guidance.
Following the heritage building survey, Sipoo needed something more specific: concrete colour guidance for how buildings in different parts of Nikkilä should be repaired, extended, or newly built, grounded in what was actually there rather than a designer’s taste.
Built directly on the earlier heritage/typomorphology survey of Nikkilä, refining and applying its area boundaries to a new computer-vision colour analysis — the third phase of a continuing engagement with the Municipality of Sipoo and partner Livady. The method reused and refined an approach SPIN Unit first developed for a 2019 colour analysis of Narva’s wooden-house district in Estonia.
Roughly 360 geocoded photographs were taken across Nikkilä’s built and natural environment. A three-stage computer-vision pipeline segmented natural from built elements, further separated facades, streets, and details, then extracted each element’s dominant colours — mapped back onto the city using each photo’s geolocation. Recommendations were split by intervention type: repair of existing historic buildings, context-respecting infill, and significant new construction.
Delivered as a 16-page branded report with a condensed client-facing version, covering four sub-areas of Nikkilä, each with recommended RAL Classic and RAL Effect colour codes.
Nikkila colour analysis – condensed
Nikkila colour analysis – report
