The investor's goal was to build a new beauty and health salon in Brno with a hairdressing studio, the first of a planned network. They chose a location on the edge of the historic city center, where a similar establishment had already been established on the ground floor of an apartment building, and the provision of manicure, pedicure, cosmetics, massages, and hairdressing services has a tradition. The functional content of the new salon was preserved; however, the existing layout, format, and organization of operations did not meet the expectations of both the investor and us.
A specific part of the task for us was to create a salon while maintaining the aforementioned operations. The nonspecific part included considerable demands and ideas about the final form of the interior with a reference to material distinctiveness and shape simplicity, yet spatial generosity within the minimal possibilities of the reconstructed space.
The ground floor space is divided by load-bearing walls into three main volumes, which we left for structural reasons and removed the existing partitioning within them.
In the largest room - accessible from the street - we situated a reception area with a dominant reception desk and a waiting zone in one half, and the hairdressing studio with three stations in the middle of the second half. We placed a manicure workstation in the center of the room on a gallery with its own staircase; below the gallery was a "washlab" (work area for hairdressing) and a children's corner. The gallery solution proved essential for maintaining spatial standards for the other operations and facilities within the limited floor area. Perpendicular to the main room are two half volumes separated by a load-bearing wall; one contains the pedicure, massage, and cosmetics operations lined up in a row accessed from the main hallway, while the other houses the technical and hygienic facilities and employee areas.
We chose sandstone as the main interior material in the form of thin flexible slabs, both for its natural beauty and color and for the relatively simple and wide possibilities of use. As a final surface finish, we used it throughout the salon in combination with solid stainless steel, glass, and red accents. The wall of the hallway leading to the operations is entirely clad in sandstone, and combined with the stainless steel fittings of the glass sliding doors and their red floral and butterfly print, it represents one of the most prominent elements of the interior; however, the most striking feature is the partially illuminated sandstone "C" of the reception with the stainless steel logo and stainless steel display cases on a red background on either side. It is an elegant entrance gate and a significant characteristic element of the newly created space.