Montreal hair salon artemys is a new player on the scene in an up-and-coming
neighborhood just outside the downtown core. Building its brand from the ground up, it hired the
team at Studio Kiff to create an environment that was high-end yet felt comfortable and inclusive
at the same time.
Lighting demands are varied for a hair salon: general illumination, task lighting, and
decorative lighting. Rachel Bussin, co-founder at Studio Kiff, said that balancing all of these
requirements was one of the most challenging aspects of the design. The new retail space also
had huge windows. So, the selected lighting would have to complement the changing levels of
natural light throughout the day and evening.
“There are many functional pieces to a salon,” said Bussin. “Flow, hierarchy of the space,
and how you move through it was very important to us. And we wanted to use lighting to help
define the different areas of the salon.”
The Studio Kiff team selected Eureka luminaires for the essential task lighting. Perhaps
one of the most distinctive choices was the Lily luminaire. A single white pendant is suspended
over each of the five hairstyling chairs, providing a broad source of illumination over the space.
“While most spotlights are smaller and pointed, Lily has a nicer, softer, larger face, which
was very different than anything else we could find on the market,” Bussin said.
While the luminaire’s aesthetic is fun and atypical for a salon environment, it is also
highly functional. Lily features a friction hinge mounted at the center, which enables the hair
stylist to orient the fixture both horizontally and vertically to meet their specific needs.
In addition to hair styling, artemys also offers some esthetic services to its clients. Two
identical manicure stations are set off to one side; each illuminated with a Henri pendant. The
designers intentionally selected a white finish, so the minimalist luminaire blends seamlessly into
the predominantly white aesthetic. Henri’s large face offers warm, direct illumination that is
comfortable for both technician and client.
Eureka’s Outline luminaires are suspended over sinks and pedicure chairs. Stylists and
estheticians benefit from uniform light while they work, a result of a glare-control rings in the
lens of each projector. And the pendant itself makes a distinctive, graphic statement in each area.
“We required high-performance architectural lighting in those spaces because the quality
of light was critical,” said Bussin. “We also liked Outline’s aesthetics. It has a nice contrast to
other design elements in the space.”
Bussin notes that hair salons are places of significant motion. Staff and clients frequently
transition through and around the stations. She appreciated that the suspension cables,
particularly for Lily and Henri, were designed to stay in place despite all the surrounding
activity.
“We’re extremely happy with the final result,” said Hélène Thiffault, co-founder of
Studio Kiff. “We’ve had really great feedback on the lighting. People like to see these Eureka
products in a very different context.”
