The Turquoise House (Between Gables) is a compact live–work–rental residence on a narrow urban lot in Halifax, designed by SUPRBLK Studio as their home and workplace. The project positions colour as a primary architectural instrument—capable of structuring form, mediating context, and organizing spatial experience.

Turquoise is not selected—it emerges through process. The design began with fieldwork: neighbourhood walks documenting the saturated façades and coastal tones embedded in Halifax’s maritime vernacular. These references informed a series of material tests, where turquoise samples were applied to corrugated metal and evaluated under shifting light conditions. The samples were then re-situated in the street—held against adjacent historic houses, architectural details, and even local graffiti—to assess their contextual performance and their ability to bridge colour across different generations of the built environment. Through this iterative calibration, a precise hue emerged: one that operates simultaneously as contrast and continuity. Applied across two gabled volumes—one rendered in turquoise, the other retained in silver to register its material state—the project recalibrates the relationship between contemporary infill and its surroundings, transforming colour into a tool of urban mediation rather than surface treatment.

Internally, colour operates as spatial infrastructure. A continuous yellow ribbon organizes circulation across the architecture studio and dwelling, establishing visual continuity between distinct programs. Salmon-toned garage–workshop spaces anchor the ground plane, reinforcing zones of production. These chromatic strategies define thresholds, guide movement, and intensify spatial perception, with daylight actively modulating their effect.

Within a compact footprint, the project integrates three independent yet interconnected uses—an architecture studio, a family home, and a townhouse-style apartment—supporting long-term adaptability and economic resilience. It challenges the visual neutrality typical of urban infill housing, demonstrating how colour—deployed with precision—can produce legibility, identity, and spatial richness. Here, colour is not representational; it is operative.