6 SALON (Old Woodward) is a 21-station hair salon that focuses on the interaction between stylist and client. It relies on a range of materials whose surface qualities interact with light.
 

The site, a ground level, retail storefront in a mixed-use building built in the 1960s, is the second location for the client, whose original 18-station salon shares a similar spatial configuration. This project involved relocating and expanding a nearby 12-station salon, doubling the capacity and making use of a number of existing elements, including a make-up counter and reception desk.

The existing corner entry was reworked with a new floor to ceiling glass storefront that extends parallel to the existing facade to create an interstitial vestibule and retail space that moves patrons around the central salon space and to a reception area set at the rear of the space. A desk refaced with an array of geometric tiles cut from an industrial grade plywood faced a matte black dimpled top layer transforms as patrons approach the warm end grain appears while a mural of original photographs commissioned for the client showcases the hands of a hairstylists at work.

Three rows of seven stylist stations compose the primary salon space. Each station is comprised of three components: a floor anchored chair, a stainless steel storage pod with tool tray, and a ceiling suspended stainless steel chassis and mirror. The station, custom fabricated from laser-cut stainless steel, helps reduce the station to its most fundamental component: the reflected mirror surface. A bronze mesh screen provides a visual contrast and helps delineate the various zones.

An adjacent wet area is demarcated by a dark ceramic tile covered a thick wall element with a series of subtracted storage pockets. Seated dryers are further enclosed by a sandblasted dark bronze glass. Private treatment rooms are positioned behind wall element. This organization deftly navigates three existing interior structural columns, while reducing an otherwise vast interior space into a series of linked, intimate zones.