Interior

This is an article from the Architecture Australia archives and may use outdated formatting

Katie Molnar and James McGrath highlight a new Sydney hair salon with a sinuous wall of illuminated, computer-manipulated and super-enlarged follicles. Andrew Nimmo inspects their Wink! fitout.


Above The salon seen from the entry lobby, with
stainless steel-topped reception desk.

Remainder space—between the designed and purposeful—can be problem space. What do you do with just over 100 sq m of commercial area, dogleg in shape, wrapped around a bulbous masonry stair enclosure, with split floor levels and indirect access from the street? There is perhaps a history to this room, about how it came to be, but for designer Katie Molnar, it was just a difficult space that she had to squeeze a hair salon into.
There are two aspects to the completed fitout that are of particular note—the use of light to modify the heavy solidity of an immoveable masonry object (the bulbous stair), and the use of computer-generated digital images to suggest depth and transparency to an otherwise smooth surface (again the bulbous stair). As it turns out, the feature that makes the space particularly difficult to deal with is also the feature that initiates the primary design moves.
This is not surprising. It is often the peculiar, rather than the ordinary, which will give designers a point of departure. The immoveable solid becomes a source of light, with the further suggestion of transparency and additional space beyond. This transformation has been created using 64 fluorescent battens behind two acrylic panels that sandwich a vinyl digital image. It avoids the banal and glamorous images that pervade the world of fashion, and instead draws inspiration from the science and structure of the most fundamental element of the salon: the hair follicle. Images of hairfollicles sourced from medical journals are super-enlarged and wire-framed using computer modelling. The follicle is abstracted to the point that few who look at it would probably guess its origins, but that is not really the point. As one sits and is groomed for an hour or so, deciphering a meaning might be more engaging a pastime than flicking through glossy magazines. Beyond the digital light wall, the design is successful, but not inspirational. The planning is sensible and seems to work very well from an operational point of view. The curve to the light-wall has been picked up and its form reinforced with the layout of the basin prep area (hair washing), and the curving outline to the back-of-house. Materials selection and detailing takes a back seat to the electric light-wall. They are straightforward and form a neutral support to the salon as a whole. For Molnar, the exploration of computer-generated digital images and their potential application has been most educative. Within small commercial fitouts—where the ability to modulate walls and ceilings is restricted by the reality of the lease line—the digital image can, relatively inexpensively, deceive the eye along the lines of the traditional trompe l’oeil.
Andrew Nimmo is a director of Lahz Nimmo Architects, Sydney

Above right Cutting stations on the light wall. Above centre Salon view towards the curved light wall, with reception in the background. Above left Detail of the light wall.

Wink! Hair Salon, Sydney
Designer Katie Molnar. Mural Design James McGrath; Faculty of the Built Environment, University of New South Wales. Lighting Rob Donaldson. Joiners CFD Contemporary Furniture Designs. Mural Detailing and Installation Katie Molnar, James McGrath. Builder CMC Commercial s. Joiners CFD Contemporary Furniture Designs.

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Archive

Published online: 1 Jul 1999

Issue

Architecture Australia, July 1999

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