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Rosbottom believes that color, too often, is discounted by design professionals

“Architects,” he says, “very often, have so much on their plates—code decisions, leaking windows, difficult roof membrane systems and HVAC decisions that are critical to the performance of their building—that they can’t focus on something so integral as color. Color is too often seen as peripheral,” Rosbottom insists.

Prosperity manifests itself in richer, textured designs with greater depth and complexity, Rosbottom contends. But even in austerity, customizeable, textured finishes can provide elegant solutions.

As the durability and cost-effectiveness of concrete make it increasingly popular for interior floors, architects are looking for ways to upgrade its appearance. Chemically reactive stains can be used to color newly cured concrete or to rehabilitate and update existing slabs. Courtesy L. M. Scofield.

St. Paul’s Walker Art Center was in the midst of a fund drive for a planned $90 million expansion in 2001 when the U.S. economy came untracked. In place of natural stone, Herzog and de Meuron opted for a austere EIFS cladding system, but textured the exterior with a relatively new combination finish in which an initial 1-mm-aggregate texture is topped by a finer finish. The result is a seamless surface similar in appearance to limestone, but which looks almost marbelized. The finish gives Walker a look of permanence, even elegance, at a cost considerably less than the cost of stone.

The Walker’s new wing, scheduled to open in 2005, will nearly double the size of the facility and incorporate four new galleries, a 385-seat theater, a restaurant and, most importantly, a meandering concourse dotted with seating, conversation nooks and new-media bays that Kathy Halbreich, Walker’s director, hopes will be as magnetic as traditional town squares.

Creative surface coatings are undergoing great popularity, says Rosbottom, “and their special character helps define a room’s atmosphere.”