Solemn Salon

Architecture

The 21st Century hair Salon is designed for an experience

A visit to the hairdresser is a great deal more psychological than one might expect. In many senses it’s a matter of passing over control, a vulnerable transaction that requires an environment that is sensitive to these fears yet functional.

As much as the experience can be one of pampering and self-indulgence, this state of mind must be facilitated by a salon’s interior.

The state of mind that our new salon tries to facilitate is an experience that is focused, lasting, material and solemn, as a contrast to the contemporary trend for fast, fleeting and plastic commercial retail spaces. It combines statements from the ancient past, with the everyday present and offers a glimp to the future.

Axonometric Perspective

Location

To achieve this we first of all took inspiration from traditional Roman homes, ordinary buildings that have become museum-worthy objects because they withstood the test of time. In a culture where we are constantly expecting the next, new, digital or even virtual innovation, a solid, well crafted statement in the form of a travertine cave right at the entrance of the salon serves as a physical reminder of the importance of time. And it serves as a prominent representation of the substance of nature; the travertine marble for the ‘cave’ with refined green marble that combines all public functions in a one central sculptural object.

Plan

Then, we made the styling chairs the backdrop for the salon, framed by the solemn windows in the travertine cave. Arguably the most important part of the salon, the chairs themselves are placed along a single curved wall with full height mirrors and a matte-silver reflective back wall. This makes sure every seat in the store has a different backdrop and atmosphere.
For this project we carefully crafted every space as an experience and here we took this ‘staring into space’ literally and designed the washing area as a separate stage; entering from behind a mirrored wall, to take a flight into space. LED screens in a space-like materialization form a galactic backdrop as a glimpse into the future

Roof terrace outdoor seating areas

Perspective Section

Model GIF

Team: Martijn de Geus, Thomas Mellegaard, Kenji Heda, Ting Ting, Han Zhang

Project Year: 2019

Location: Wangjing, Beijing, China