Hair salons

Curved seating, shelving and mirrors feature throughout Goodbody hair salon in Oakland, California, which design studio Homework has finished with salmon-pink accents.GoodBody, which specialises in cutting, colouring and styling textured hair, is located in downtown Oakland. It takes over a building that was previously host to several dated offices.
To transform the site into a modern salon, San Francisco-based studio Homework had to completely strip away any evidence of the previous fit-out.

Top image: GoodBody is set inside a spacious hall. Above: curved elements are used to break-up the space

As well as removing decorative elements, the studio tore down partition walls and knocked through a dropped ceiling to create a vast, double-height hall.
It was initially unclear as to how the space would be organised to accommodate the salon’s various service areas.

A semi-circular bench anchors the salon’s waiting area
“After rounds of iterations, we developed sinuous millwork curves to promote the service functions while defining the space,” explained Ben Work, who runs Homework alongside Susan Work.
Curved elements can be seen as soon as customers walk into GoodBody – a semi-circular bench has been placed in the salon’s entryway to delineate a waiting area.

Arched mirrors accompany the salon’s styling stations
The grooved, salmon-pink bench bends round to adjoin a matching desk where staff can stand and check appointments. Overhead hangs a quartet of brass pendant lamps.
Nearby sits a salmon-pink platform that dips inwards to form an arc shape. The platform is topped with chunky tiered shelves that display various hair and beauty products that are available for purchase.

Each mirror is illuminated by an LED strip light
On the opposite side of the room is a sequence of styling stations. Each one has a tall arched mirror framed by an LED strip light and a comfy swivel chair upholstered in caramel-brown leather.
These complement the salon’s buttermilk-coloured walls and the gold-velvet curtains that have been hung in front of all the doorways.

Curved shelving displays an array of hair and beauty products
At the rear of the salon is a huge vaulted opening which leads through to the hair-wash room.

New York hair salon Hawthorne Studio is designed for social distancing

This has been completed in a darker, richer palette – surfaces have been painted what the studio describes as a shade of “peacock green”, while the sinks are made from black porcelain.
A rounded, salmon-pink cabinet visually ties-in this room with the rest of the salon.

A vaulted opening looks through to the hair-washing area
Other striking hair salons to open this year include Hawthorne Studio in New York, which design practice BoND had to adapt to suit health and safety regulations put in place as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
All of the styling stations, for example, are mobile so that customers can be moved to sit six feet apart. Spaces are also divided by wooden frames instead of walls, so that staff can monitor how many people are entering the salon.
Photography is by Aubrie Pick.
Project credits:
Design: HomeworkStyling: Bianca Sotelo

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