HAIR SALOON TONY&GUY

The scheme involved the refurbishment of a hairdresser’s shop and the creation of a new room on the upper floor. Overall appearance: half black, half white, all glossy, all luxurious. The new layout places the toilet and service facilities in the basement, with the ground floor occupied by an ample reception area (facing towards the portico) and, behind it, a work area. There is also a mezzanine, again fitted out as work areas, with the new upper floor housing technical facilities. The salon is intended to combine elegance and practicality. These two requirements were certainly met by the materials used, which are here combined to produce work stations very different to those one usually sees in a hairdresser’s. The floors and the bottom 70 centimetres of the walls are in black granite. Above that section of the wall is a fitted shelf that runs around the perimeter of each floor. The upper part of the wall is a single mirrored surface. The washbasins, shelves and work tops are in inspired by the same logic, whilst the cupboards and cabinets are in black glass.

The links between the different levels reveals particular attention to the use of space. There is a cylindrical elevator shaft and flights of stairs that cut across the open space, defining it. The result is a bright and luminous area in which ‘image’ is the central focus, as can be seen by the reflections in all the surfaces. In effect, clients can see a ‘job well done’ all the way to the cash desk. The front facing onto the portico consists of wide windows. It maintains the original alignment but is now curved inwards in a sort of cusp, thus focusing more attention on an entrance that seems to draw one in.