Chiseled, Bentleigh Salon Interior Project, Commercial Development, Architecture Images
Chiseled Hair in Bentleigh, Melbourne
Hair Salon Interior Project in Victoria, Australia – design by OLSK and Elvin Tan Design
29 Nov 2019
Chiseled Hair
Architects: OLSK and Elvin Tan Design
Location: Bentleigh, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Chiseled Hair is a hair salon founded on a coworking-style model
Founder of OLSK, Jared King noticed there was an opportunity for hair professionals to come together to offer a unique and expanded service, while reducing overheads and construction costs.
The new space brings together not one, but four individual hair professionals into one salon environment. As a collective, all the new co-owners could pool resources and reduce individual costs while making for a more robust business model, one that is tried and tested in the co-working model. King says: “the owners have all come together and now they have created a new business where they’re all partners.”
The brief that OLSK developed was about “defining their brand through the architecture and interiors,” King shares. The name for the new salon – Chiseled – came from the group and formed the starting point for concept development. “We thought about the notion of construction, and the main design theory was then based around layers, texture and colour, which directly relates to the process of hair cutting and styling.”
In terms of space planning and layouts, the large salon space has been divided into several key zones. Closer to the entry and reception are both the barber and salon services providing visibility from the street. Throughout the space, equal importance has been put on both of these offerings, a decision that King describes as deliberate. “The space is designed to not be overly male or female, not to have a gender bias but to welcome all,” he says. The washing and colouring requirements have strategically been located to the rear, with the colouring stations featuring a green wall and natural timbers – with minimal mirrors in sight – which helps to keep customers at ease when they’re “at their most vulnerable”.
A stand-out feature of the entire project, and one that came outside of the initial brief but was integrated during the design phase, is the Hub. “The Hub utilises the space under the existing stairs and is located in the centre of the salon so it acts like a heart, servicing all areas. Instead of just making this a waiting area, we turned it into a bar where customers wait at the start of their session, then come back during treatment and then return again at the end to rebook.”
Driven by the concept of layers, textures and colour, the materiality plays an important role at Chiseled. Materials have been layered in different sections, albeit in a considered manner: “We layered the material selection in sections so your eye couldn’t take it all in at one go.”
Given that four different personalities were coming together into the one new space, OLSK had to ensure that each individual had the opportunity to give input, and that the final design outcome was a reflection of their aesthetics, all while maintaining a level of design consistency.
One way this has been achieved is that the floors and ceilings are treated in a singular finish – terrazzo for the floor and pressed metal for the ceiling – this brings a level of cohesiveness throughout the entire space. From the barber side, cool metallic finishes and concrete-look paint add a fresh, yet subtly masculine feel, while the salon side is dramatically warmed up by vertical Spanish tiling.
Timbers have been used throughout, also adding a welcoming and soft atmosphere. Rather than creating secluded pockets, shelving is see-through and the Hub bar is low, tactics that both ensure layered sight-lines throughout the entire space, also creating the desired cohesive effect.
The outcome of Chiseled is not just a larger, more sustainable business model for four hairdressers, but a thoughtfully considered design that puts the customer front and centre, regardless of whether they’re coming in for the barber or stylist. It’s a project ultimately made possible by borrowing the co-working model and adapting it to suit a service-based retail environment.
Chiseled Hair, Melbourne – Building Information
Design: OLSK and Elvin Tan Design
Project size: 100 sqm
Site size: 100 sqm
Completion date: 2019
Building levels: 1
Photography © Anthony Richardson
Chiseled Hair in Bentleigh, Melbourne images / information received 291119
Location: Bentleigh, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
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