Salon Xia is a tenant improvement and re-branding for a well-established local hair salon moving into 'The Andalucia', a new mixed-use building in downtown Pasadena. Instead of traditional rows of styling stations, two freestanding sculptural hexagonal towers were built floating in the space to create spacious, unique, and efficient stations for each of the twelve stylists.
Hexagonal shapes repeat in plan and rotate through the space in various iterations, including the reception desk, waiting bench, dressing room, ceilings, and lights. The main space remains bright and open, revealing the urban nature of the raw concrete building shell. Colors and shapes abstract the local environment, with dark blue-greens of the sea and vegetation, terra-cotta orange and semicircular arches prolific in Pasadena architecture, and larch wood that warms the space and evokes the beach. A photographic wall mural by a local artist provides a unique view of the Arroyo Seco Bridge, a Pasadena landmark. |