Given the general blandness of retail architecture in Ireland, a new hairdressing outlet in central Dublin deserves applause for the refreshingly imaginative quality of its appearance. Designed by architect Tom de Paor, Dylan Bradshaw's premises on Johnson's Place stands out from its neighbours thanks to a striking facade in brushed steel and painted wood. The former material is used both for the doorway and its surrounds and for the upper area usually occupied by a fascia carrying the business's name; in this case, it has been left as a vacant recess. The greater part of the area beneath has been devoted to a large, square sheet of glass deeply recessed within a relatively narrow wooden frame painted black.
Both the forms and materials used on the building's exterior are repeated inside. Visitors arrive first into a small lobby tucked into the right-hand side of the site and lit only by naked traditional bulbs set into the ceiling. Part of that ceiling, along with the outer wall, is covered in the same varnished hardwood used for the floor; the wall leading into the main salon is made up of a series of full-length brushed steel panels. The only furniture here aside from a wooden cube reception desk is an orange leather square-edged sofa.
The somewhat stark character of the lobby, more reminiscent of a stylish dental or doctor's waiting room than the usual hairdresser's premises, contrasts with the main salon. This is a long and slender site, its narrowness accentuated by the line of mirrors occupying the upper section of the left-hand wall and by the panels of polished black glass covering the opposite wall. Concealed behind the black glass - the same kind which used to be seen in chemists' shops - are a variety of service and storage areas. The effect of so much sheen is to recall interior decoration from the 1930s when designers still deployed expensive materials without concern for cost; de Paor's skill has been to give the same impression without resorting to the same expense.
Further glossiness is provided in the main working section by a floor of black marble tiles and the polished green marble used for the worktop and wall beneath. As with the lobby, lighting has been kept simple; just a sequence of exposed bulbs hung on narrow wires from the white ceiling. At the back of the room, full-length wooden cupboards lead to the washing area which is at a 45-degree angle to the main salon. Into a tiny triangular site has been tucked a private room, its walls hung in off-white parachute silk.
The richness and variety of materials used throughout the premises are in striking contrast to what has become the minimalist norm in retail. But de Paor has managed to unite this diversity by using everything on the same flat planes and by employing predominantly reflective surfaces. And while there is colour, it tends to be from the darker end of the spectrum except for the white ceilings and the areas immediately below them. This is a commercial space treated as theatre and offering consumers the dramatic possibilities of a stage set, with the window acting as a proscenium arch and pedestrians on the street outside serving as an audience.