Want a salon design that can help your business be as successful as possible? Tetsuya Ito, UK chief designer for furniture icons Takara Belmont, shares some inspirational interiors and top tips for the year ahead…
Salon design is significant for any salon business as it defines your image, creates a vital first and lasting impression, projects the value of your services and suggests the quality of experience that your client is about to enjoy. However, apart from alluring guests and positioning your brand, salon design serves an important commercial purpose too.
As a world-leading furniture and equipment brand, Takara Belmont offers a FREE* Salon Design service to salons investing in its equipment. By combining almost a century of furniture and equipment expertise with global design trends, cultural nuances and commercial imperatives, the company has transformed the image and commercial performance of salons and men’s grooming establishments on a global scale.
Takara Belmont’s chief designer in the UK, Tetsuya Ito, gives us an insight into five of his favourite and most inspiring salon designs, comments on why he thinks these stand out and provides useful tips about what you can learn from their approach when considering your own design.
Trevor Sorbie, Bristol
“This icon of hairdressing needs an inspiring setting for his clients and this design achieves this perfectly. It respects the heritage and status of its brand and founder, but it has evolved to ensure it’s on-trend with natural elements, natural textures, lots of natural light and openness creating a stunning effect. Hanging foliage relaxes the mood, as exposed brick work and timber flooring combine with light flooding in from the skylights and glass-walled balcony window to accentuate the feeling of bringing outdoor elements inside. The rounded mirror shapes and ribbed walling, that sections off the backwash area, bring trendy accents to the design. There’s also a contrast in customer options with wall-facing styling stations contrasting with a more communal station to ensure both privacy and social interaction. This salon has a timeless feel that will remain relevant for many years to come.”
Tip: When planning the layout, spacing in-between and around work stations there needs to be enough working space for stylists and technicians, and to ensure that the client doesn’t feel cramped in. Adding equipment such as the Roller Ball F wall-mounted processor enhances the colour experience and it adds premium value to these services too; it also declutters the space by leaving the floor area clear.
Hershesons, Harvey Nichols, Knightsbridge, London
“This design is eclectic and affluent with lots of textures, shapes and materials that intrigue the eye and fascinate the mind. Many features like the hanging mirrors and bold floor pattern exude character that makes this a memorable space. The exposed ceiling creates an industrial effect that doesn’t complicate the overall design either; it just adds to the intrigue, along with bold wooden bench-style styling ‘desks’ with pedestals that create almost a workplace effect. The green and gloss black backrest of the Adria II styling chairs are among colour accents that draw the eye, as faux fur waiting chairs and barstools add to the variety. It’s fun, yet high-end in its aesthetic, as you would expect from such a high quality brand, with that all-important London vibe.”
Tip: Good salon design is based around inherent features that can set the foundation for the design or be incorporated into it, like the ceiling here. There’s so much value in existing architecture with features are sometimes overlooked or removed when they could be a valuable design asset and part of the interior story.
When planning your approach, consider the whole customer journey from their arrival, waiting time, service time and even after service. Hershesons has considered every aspect here with an interesting waiting area, bar and a service area that are all part of the whole salon experience. Customers appreciate their entire time in the salon, not just when they’re having a service, to make the whole visit pleasurable and memorable.
Kendrick’s of Rochford, Essex
“Classic interior elements and darker colour materials elevate Kendrick’s from a traditional barbershop to a high-end and very exclusive Gentlemen’s club vibe. The design flows with every texture and detail carefully considered for authenticity and quality. The leather studded Chesterfield sofa and matching chairs set against exposed brickwork with a station-style clock preserve tradition and respect the industrial heritage of the location, while a butchers bike, serving as a window display, and black marble counters pay homage to the building’s previous life in the 1920s. Colour-coordinated Apollo 2 barber chairs with white piping continue to reinforce quality, as a vibrant laser-cut brass logo pops out on a bold dark-green wall as if to proudly remind customers where they are. It’s all part of the experience described as ‘unapologetically expensive’ by owner Jonathan Kendrick. This is a barbershop that set out to achieve a premium experience and they have undoubtedly accomplished it.”
Tip: Before you set out to design a space, think about the end result first. Not just in terms of the eventual look and style, but what you want your hairdressing or barber business to stand for and achieve commercially. If you are aiming for a high-end, prestige experience to present high value services, make sure your plan and design are geared towards achieving this end. Premium is not what you think you are worth, but how you create value and expense in your design and offering in every small detail.
GrooM, Japan
“This Japanese salon stands out as it provides a perfect solution for the Covid-19 world we now live in. Not every salon has the luxury of space, but the flexible black and white partition not only works as a stunning design feature, it serves a functional purpose by acting as a divider for Covid-safe service provision. The introduction of waist-level windows allows natural outdoor elements into the salon setting to accentuate the sense of relaxation and space in a wall-facing scenario. Dressed outdoor areas are important to extend the interior mood, as the square framed track rail lighting system is designed to achieve future layout options. This salon is functionally well considered but still beautifully minimalistic.”
Tip: While not every salon has the luxury of space, good space planning does ensure your salon footprint is maximised. This is why a good salon designer will consider how space is managed to create a great style, maximise function and ensure that you get the optimum commercial return from your space. It’s surprising how many service and experience options can be added whilst actively enhancing customer satisfaction and boosting revenue potential.
&H, Japan
“The very unique and distinctive light ring designed mirror was created to represent an ‘angel’s halo’. It has eye catching appeal and it serves a functional purpose to subtly lighten and frame the client during each service. Texturally, the painted concrete ceiling and walls contrast with blackened steel panels and marble flooring to create a natural yet extremely high-end effect. Design-wise it’s perfectly balanced and poised, with Dux aged leather British Regency inspired vintage chairs providing an era and culture spanning contrast that works incredibly well. To reinforce the premium approach, the VIP treatment room is darker, more private and points to an atmospheric change that elevates the emotions and calms the senses. This really is high-end at its finest.”
Tip: Creating a special VIP zone and adding new equipment-led treatments and service adds to the customer journey and it increases the value in your services too. Transport your client to a haven of tranquility and seclusion to indulge in head massage, facials and other hair and beauty treatments and you can add many revenue streams whilst giving clients extra special treatment.
Takara Belmont provides FREE* Salon Design for salons and barbers investing in their equipment. For more information visit www.takarahairdressing.co.uk call 020 7515 0333 or email hairdressing@takara.co.uk
* FREE subject to T&Cs. See website for details.