An Aesthetically Transformative Insertion
The gut renovation of Joe’s Salon + Spa, is an aesthetically transformative insertion into an everyday setting within a sleepy New England town. Along with a complete renovation of the building, we took the initiative to work with our client to extend the design of the beauty environment out on to the streetscape. The storefront, now entirely opened up with large panels of glass, reveals a series of layered spaces within the ground level hair salon and an orange glow emanating from the interior of the spa on the upper level.
Anthropomorphic Elements Within A Historic Shell
A significant humanistic repetitive element that defines this transformation is the design of multiple anthropomorphic functional elements situated within the historic shell of the original building. Their animated appearance gives life to an otherwise spare environment and creates a rhythm as one moves through the building. Such curvilinear forms within the hair salon, as the red- tiled cash-wrap desk, the central exposed cylindrical HVAC duct, the freestanding hair styling stations, the circular duct storage styling units and the custom designed cylindrical seating in the waiting area; play off the orthogonal loft-like space. The treatment rooms, running down the center of the open second floor spa, also embody a similar anthropomorphic quality. The continuity of their carpet-covered floors, walls and curved ceilings creates a sense of vibrant serenity within and around the individual rooms. Simultaneously walls, floors, and ceilings merge, mirroring the programmatic need to periodically unite these individual rooms by opening up their common pocket doors. The design of this layout hearkens back to the layered spatial experience and curvilinear forms of the ground-floor hair salon, intrinsically tying together the two environments.
A Modern Reinterpretation of Urban Civic Space
The new design of this salon + spa, a product of a dramatic aesthetic change in the character of its building, is a distinctive autograph that has magnetically drawn patrons from surrounding Connecticut towns. Joe’s is now known throughout the region as a destination, a modern reinterpretation of an urban community center, where people meet, socialize and revitalize their urban green.
