ISU Hair Salon in Antwerp, Belgium Designed by Going East.

At ISU, they like to cut away any excesses. Here, you’ll enter a place that breathes tranquility. Minimalist, yes, but with just a hint of cosy. ISU opened its door in 2017 in Antwerp, Belgium. After years of experience with working for another natural hairdresser, Kevin De Bilde thought it was time to open his brand new salon.

Architecture firm Going East designed the interior informed by the way Kevin cuts hair – simply, purely, detailed and with elements of complexity. The way he treats the clients’ hair with only natural products, the architects have also treated the materials within the space.

Going East wanted to translate his vision for hair into their vision of materials. Everything that you see is customised especially for this project. From bowls, crane, benches, coat racks and beyond. 
The bowl, for example, is an experiment undertaken with a Syrian refugee, a master of ceramics back in Syria who now, because of the war, works and lives in Antwerp.

“We love the cracks in everything. That moment when the design moulds in people’s hands, becoming just that thing that you dreamed of. That’s for us the little magic we hope to seek and find in every project,” shares Anaïs Torfs from Going East. “From the floor to the outdoor tree, every detail we could work out – and that’s always a great gift. When you can focus on the biggest and the smallest details, and when the client wants to walk that same path with you.”

Related post: Stories On Design // Grooming Spaces..

[Images courtesy of Going East. Photography by Oona Smet.]