MiniLuxe Salon Prototype

• location:
  Newton, MA; Boston, MA; Lexington, MA; Hingham, MA
• Date:
  2007 - 2012
• client:
  MiniLuxe / Cue ball
• collaborators:
  Structural Engineer: Evan Hankin, PE
  General Contractor: Anthony Delvecchio
  Retail Design Advisor: David Hacin
  Photographer: John Horner
• project_team:
  Partner-In-Charge: Elizabeth Whittaker
  Project Architects: Stephen Zecher, Anne-Sophie Divenyi
  Project Managers: Silvia Illia, Andrew Richardson
  Design Team: Silvia Illia, Andrew Richardson, Joana Torres, Paul Voulgaris
• description:
  2007 New England AIA Honor Award
  2007 BSA / AIA Honor Award
  
  This prototypical salon was designed for MiniLuxe’s expected 100+ national locations. The design strategy creates an integrated, economical branding mechanism that can be easily reproduced to accommodate a wide variety of spaces. The program of the manicure and pedicure salon – an obsession with feet and hands – is translated into an oversized wall graphic that is then cut into CNC-cut maple plywood panels lining the walls.
  
  The round holes in the wall panels frame silhouettes of hands and feet and double as a pegboard display system. Custom modular shelves are hung from wooden dowels inserted into the holes, providing display space for lifestyle products from nail polish to flip-flops.
  
  The flexible space can transform into an afterhours lounge and private party venue. The hybrid programming inspired the lighting strategy for the wall liner design: by day, the panels are lit from the front; at night they are back-lit, illuminating the space in a way that shifts the atmosphere and transitions the space from day salon into party venue.