Ireland has placed itself into the forefront of a new design style and opened the doors for others to follow. Irish design has been pushing its way to the top and has arrived with the new STYLE CLUB, an innovative and creative hair salon by Douglas Wallace’s Lead Designer Garry Cohn and Design Director Brian Jennings.

The brief from Peter Mark CEO Barry Dempsey and Founding Director Mark Keaveney was to deliver a completely new ‘concept salon’ which would push the boundaries of design. The company was founded in 1961, 47 years ago and the

Directors are aware of the fact that in the fashion arena you must define yourself by constant innovation.

The creative collaboration between designers and hairdresser has been at the centre of this new departure in salon design. Despite visits to salons worldwide by the design team for ideas, the design is new. There is no existing model for this. This is a space which will be staffed and patronized by those prepared to be more daring and creative with their hair.

A new style is born that takes Punk, Japanimation, New Wave, Memphis, Classical Design and a lot of imagination mixed with a 21st century twist. It is refreshing to see Ireland in the lime light creating a new innovative ‘Dublin’ design style.

The design is not minimal. Less is not more in this space - more is more and fun at the same time. Entering the traditional building you know that there is something special going on before you set foot into the space. From the street you see a wild linticular (3-dimensional graphics) ceiling in a crazy pattern with vibrant salmon coloured walls and bright white traditional mouldings.

Entering the salon feels like falling into Alice in Wonderland, where this time she is a ’punk rocker’. It’s real eye candy. Patterns clash and work at the same time. Colours collide that should never go together, and yet somehow work. Shapes and forms that don’t belong with each other are living happily side but side, it’s ingenious. Everywhere you turn is a new experience. It’s as if you are in a new space at every angle you turn.

The design is clever with its wall of convex mirrors against a stripe patterned wall that sits next to, yes, a tartan wall - next to blue stylized clouds! This is all off set by a pink giraffe-skin printed ceiling complete with pink giraffe-skin marshmallow shapes. You just have to see it to believe it.

The styling stations in the middle of the room are wonderful with their candy colours and chunky geometric shapes. You just want to sit down and have the stylist create your own style.

The Shampoo Area is fun. Set towards the back of the salon it is complete with 5 pedestals adorned with 5 random gold objects: a coffee cup, a baby, crayons, roller skates and a 1970s instamatic camera! And if that’s not enough you get a black and white polka dotted ceiling to focus on while your hair is being treated.

There is a definite fashion-forward feeling in the space that is so cutting-edge it is not even on the charts yet. It’s your imagination gone wild. You have transported yourself into the centre of style and fashion and you are the show.

The Reception Area has retained classical details but these are contradicted by a white shiny tufted ceiling of buttoned fabric panels, with a red modern glass chandelier. The reception desk is also tufted but this time in a silver fabric with diamond like stones for the buttons.

There is a coffee bar that looks like it was in a time capsule that came right out of the 1980s, it is so bad that it is good. Furthermore there is a luxurious over-sized red velvet sofa with a large round painting of 3 ladies with ‘big hair’ above. It’s mad and it really works. There is nothing boring going on here.

Running right through the salon is a tiled runner. This creates a catwalk effect through the length of the whole salon. The stylized pattern of hair clippings in the runner is achieved by a laser-cut technique into the tiled floor. The irony is that in a salon hair clippings are swept off the floor, here instead they are the inspiration for the floor pattern, very cool.

Don’t for get to check out the bath room. It’s a grass box, no kidding, complete with a green toilet and a cow looking through a window wanting to get to eat all the grass. But don’t worry, the window is locked! What fun, it’s crazy and nice to see that designers still have a sense a humour.

Whether you want to admit it or not, it is an amazing design with the highest standards of detail and finishes. There is real sophistication in the project: thing clash and work all at the same time. There an understanding of proportion and balance of colour. This is not something that can be easily been achieved and the STYLE CLUB succeeds with flying colours.

Whether you like the design or not, once you walk into the STYLE CLUB you cannot help but put a smile on your face.

Email: douglaswallace@eulogy.co.uk