Y12 Salon, DIFC

Akin to creating statement interiors, this milestone in the studio’s portfolio was an exciting challenge requiring extensive material research and the talents of XO Atelier’s in-house creative team.

With a brief sentiment to the studio’s love of nature, rippling waterscapes inspired the striking entrance. In a break from her subtle norms however, the acidified multicoloured metal, reminiscent of oil in water, was specially created for the project by XO Ateliers workshop in Asia.

The stark surface design across the whole project is interrupted by the imposing bar counter and colour-lab, built to entertain the clients. To showcase product, the giant shelving system occupies the full 8m height of the building. Echoing an eighties grid pattern, the tiled counter is replicated in the individual seating areas, with the blue grouting emphasising the accent colour throughout. Overhead, lighting is arranged in a wild configuration, with linear LED tubes dancing above the bar counter and and repeated at the entrance corridor.

A geometric layout was key to the space planning. Work areas in the salon are divided into male and female sections punctuated with an elliptical hair wash area at the centre of the room. Each hair station is dominated by a 3m high mirror design, with a square LED beam creating a crown over every single chair.

The defining feature of the salon are the private rooms. Cladded entirely in emerald and deep blue marble ceramic tiles, clients feel safe and cocooned. The installation of a circular back-lit mirror creates an infinity view, showing multiple angles as the client is seated in the chair.

At the heart of the salon’s success both as a functional space and an expression of the brand itself, is in the choices and quality of materials, the finish and the attention to detail in every aspect. Aside from La Palma and Kvadrat fabrics, every single piece has been custom designed to fit the scheme. And all this executed in four months.