The Breathe Palette
Inspired by the hues of the Australian landscape, Melbourne architecture practice Breathe has collaborated with Haymes Paint to develop a new paint palette with a focus on sustainability, wellbeing and design excellence.
The Breathe team drew upon their decades of practice in both interiors and architecture in developing the palette and looked to their affinity for the tones found in the Australian landscape, with weathered sandstone, driftwood, banksia leaves and ironbark all present throughout the range. “The Breathe Palette grew from a desire to create colours that perform responsibly and sit naturally alongside timber, stone, earth and sky,” says Jeremy McLeod, co-founder of Breathe. “It’s about making sustainable, well-considered design accessible to more people.”
Breathe’s emphasis on sustainability and wellness were key considerations in developing the palette. Each paint is formulated using high-performance pigments that deliver superior colour fastness, reducing material use by extending the lifespan of the product. The Breathe Palette is water based and low-VOC or ultra-low-VOC. Carbon black was deliberately reduced across the range, due to the team’s discovery of the unsustainable provenance of the pigment. Rather than relying on carbon black-based pigments, each hue in the Breathe Palette is coloured using high-performance iron oxides, which have been engineered to replicate naturally occurring minerals.
The palette has been kept to 63 hues, minimising waste across all aspects of the range. By curating choice, the palette removes unnecessary duplication and reduces the need for producing excessive fan decks and samples. It was also a decision made around giving designers, architects and homeowners clarity and confidence. Tamara Veltre, co-founder of Breathe, explains that “by curating the palette to just 63 colours, we’ve removed the noise. It gives designers and homeowners confidence, clarity and ease without compromising on depth or beauty.”
Rachel Lacy, colour and concept lead at Haymes, says “this collaboration brings together architectural thinking and paint-making expertise. The result is a range that delivers exceptional performance designed specifically for Australian conditions while meeting rigorous environmental and health standards.”
