June 13, 2019

Musen Design Lets the Light into a Taiwanese Hair Salon

Custom wine racks serve as a screen near reception, bordering a bar area with custom pendants and stools. Photography by Hey!cheese.

Musen Design has made a name for itself throughout Taiwan for its artful residential interiors. The firm’s signature minimalism recently transformed a former restaurant in a rundown building into vibrant new location for Turning Around, the salon of a well-known stylist in Tainan.

The 1,000-square-foot space, with an addition 300-square-foot exterior space, utilizes the original arched, load-bearing wall to form separate salon and social spaces that retain illumination from vast windows overlooking a neighboring park. “Because of the surface lighting and reflections from the custom mirrors, the pure, white theme, which met the proprietor’s demands and also suits the brand, brims with life,” says design director Eric Cho.

A custom mirror hangs over the bathroom’s custom vanity, with refurbished windows overlooking the park. Photography by Hey!cheese.

Small details add interest, such as a small forest of potted plants arranged throughout and metallic wallpaper applied to the interiors of the arched passageways between spaces. “We applied gold lacquer in some details,” Cho says, with a nod to the previous incarnation of the space, “which lets the shop’s customers enjoy a visual feast along with their salon service.”

Views of a nearby park reflect on the main salon’s flooring, which alternates between polished concrete and epoxy. Photography by Hey!cheese.
The custom reception desk is marbleized melamine veneer. Photography by Hey!cheese.
Turning Around salon is located in a space in Tainan formerly occupied by a restaurant. Photography by Hey!cheese.

Read more: Tokyo Salon by Moriyuki Ochiai Architects Evokes Braids and Twists

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