When Alan Bruton of Reds Hair Studio saw the Oranmore Suite in the Shelbourne Hotel in October - despite the fact that it was being used as a storeroom - he could immediately picture it as a hair studio in the Fifth Avenue/Central Park style. "It was a bright, sunny day, the light was fantastic and I could see that these rooms would be nice to relax and work in," he said.
Plans to refurbish the Reds Studio at 48 Dawson Street were immediately put on hold and talks of a move to the Shelbourne began. Within two weeks his proposal to the Shelbourne regarding a 10-year licence had been accepted and termination of the lease on the Dawson Street premises agreed. That lease had had 15 years to run. Reds Studio had been established in 1984 and was based beside the Westbury Hotel off Grafton Street until 1993, when the business moved to Dawson Street. The new studio in the Shelbourne will consist of a larger premises and allow for the incorporation of a beauty salon.
The relocated studio will continue a tradition of hairdressing at the Shelbourne that has lasted over 130 years. The previous salon operator retired more than a year ago and the hotel had been seeking a replacement. Ian Morrison, the Shelbourne's financial director, said: "We had always intended to continue providing a hairdressing facility and to incorporate it into the leisure end of the hotel. The new studio is located above the Fitness Centre and the beauty salon will be called the Heavenly Spa."
Mr Bruton himself has a broad conception of the reasons why hair studios relocate. "In the major cities around the world hair studios have been moving off the high streets and into other locations where there can be a synergy between customers. High street rents have also been forcing studios on to secondary streets and in-house."
He is more confident of the move into the Shelbourne following a recent visit to New York to see hair studios there. In New York, all the major stores and hotels have top name hair designers. Grafton Street is an example of the trend with only one hair studio, Peter Mark, now operating on the street. The rooms, on the Shelbourne's first floor, overlook St Stephen's Green and, with 15-foot high windows, provide natural light that is ideal for this kind of business. The 14 hair staff will all work in the south-facing front room. The decor has been devised along clean simple lines, with furniture designed by M C Boss, the leading French designers of hairdressing furniture.
Oyster-white silk-papered walls and billowing white muslin drapes set off the polished wood furniture and floors. Frosted glass doors divide the beauty salon from the hair studio, where a full range of treatments, including manicure and pedicure, will be available.
