In 2013 our construction department was assigned the construction of the Talkin’ Heads project, designed by the award-winning architecture practice Bureau de Change, founded by Katerina Dionysopoulou and Billy Mavropoulos.

“The exposed corner-plot location of this old pharmacy in an affluent Athens shopping district inspired a re-working of the traditional hair salon. The space is split between the main cutting floor and a mezzanine space. The design adopts a trio of inward-facing seats, each paired with a large ceiling-hung mirror. Clustering the seats in this way provides a more communal, sociable salon experience, encouraging interaction between the stylists and customers.

From the ceiling hang 130 individual picture frames. Fabricated from dark timber profiles (moldings, architrave, cornicing and skirting), the frames range in size from 16 by 21cm to 73 by 86cm. Appearing as though randomly placed, the frames are carefully hung from 1mm thick steel wires, each tilted to form a suspended landscape. The frames spread from all four corners of the salon, before appearing to swoop downwards to meet the three customer mirrors. Whilst many are left empty, some are filled with mirrors and angled to provide that all-important ‘back of head’ view. The 520 wires that hold the frame landscape create a mist-like presence that hovers just below the ceiling. The wires gently sway in response to movement in the space and customers entering the salon.” (http://www.b-de-c.com/talkin-heads)

Excerpt from George Kampouris’, the owner of Talkin’ Heads, interview with the journalist Philippa Dimitriadi:

“I am glad that everything in the store has been done by friends and people who love me, and I love them back. I owe to them the fact that the hair salon became known so early. We were still setting it up, there was paint all over the messy place, when the contractor told me: “it would be nice to have a haircut here”. And I told him: “Sit down!”. So, he sat on a paint bucket and I started cutting his hair. Automatically people gathered outside the store to watch us. It was like a performance...”