Architect Robert D Henry has created a salon and medical spa in upstate New York, integrating the two together.
The 3,300sq ft location features custom millwork and lighting, as well as immersive sculptural styling stations, a “runway” separating salon functions, and shared reception and back-of-house support zones.
The Anthony DeFranco Salon & Sight of Beauty MedSpa features a design that has been choreographed and planned, from guests’ intended movement throughout the overall space’s floor plan, to the regal crocodile-embossed salon chairs encrusted with recessed, bejeweled button tufts. The combination of two very different client experiences — the high-activity salon and the calm energy of the spa — is intended to be distinct, while also complementary.
“Robert D. Henry Architects understood Anthony DeFranco’s design vision of creating a glamourous and elegant space that would promote guests’ full-body wellness transformation,” said Robert Henry, founding principal of Robert D. Henry Architects. “The design team strived for the highest quality end result, and having worked on previous salons with DeFranco, we applied our expertise as a wellness-driven architecture firm to create a sensuous space that would stimulate all five senses.”
The Anthony DeFranco Salon shares the space with Sight of Beauty MedSpa, a state-of-the-art medical spa that offers several cosmetic treatments, including Botox, Juvederm, Radiesse, Restylane, Sculptra, Kybella, Cool Sculpting, Photorejuvenation, and Microdermabrasion, as well as laser hair, spider vein, and tattoo removal.
Its four spa treatment and massage rooms are lined with soft, shimmering wall-coverings to create a warm, cocooning environment. These sensuous spa experiences extend the duration of clients’ stays by offering multiple total body rejuvenation services, encouraging guests to linger for longer.
Upon entering the space, guests are met with 13-foot-high ceilings adorned with dramatic stalactite lighting pendants above a custom crystal quartzite reception desk inset with panels of smoked mirror.
The loft space features custom floor-to-ceiling mirrored styling and colour stations with integrated lighting that serve as immersive functional sculptures, offering clients a clear view of their full-body transformation.
The monolithic styling stations, which hide integrated power outlets and stylists’ tools behind seamless doors, are placed around the salon’s “runway” separating the styling from the colour area, located behind the front desk to provide privacy. This area leads to discreet shampooing stations located in the back of the salon. High-energy areas dedicated to styling and colouring were deliberately sectioned off from calmer, quieter zones, such as a private Keratin treatment room, and the shampooing area, intended for relaxing scalp massages.
An overall neutral colour scheme of black and white intends to purposefully highlight client transformations, instead of directly competing with them. The pass-through space between the shampoo and colour area visually connects the two zones and intentionally blends them together, while physically separating them by a custom sculptural cabinet that offers towel storage on one side and special cubbies for hair colour on the other.
The design team and owners closely analysed the salon’s adjacencies to optimise the location of each space, and to ensure that shared reception and back-of-house support spaces were operationally and efficiently organised. The architecture firm included a transition at the rear of the space linking the shared services offered.
The dramatic 13- foot-high loft ceiling in the salon is deliberately contrasted with intimate 8-foot-high cocooning spa rooms, that required acoustic separation. The design team addressed this challenge of competing program uses by amplifying their differences with a shared linkage, thereby creating a dramatic spatial experience for guests.
Guests’ departure experience has been carefully planned with a soft-sell retail space, located at reception. The retail space carries Anthony DeFranco’s full line of beauty and hair-care products, along with a skincare line from Dr Stephen Greenberg, who serves as medical director of the spa.
“We are seeing firsthand the benefits of a well-appointed salon and spa that encourages DeFranco’s highly discerning clientele to linger for longer within a high-impact space. The overall energy of the space is electrifying, and can be directly attributed to our partnership with DeFranco, along with our unparalleled perspective and involvement in the design process.”
