Arch&Type, a Buffalo-based architecture and design practice founded by Seth Amman, has transformed a former warehouse near the historic H.H. Richardson Olmsted Campus into Fawn & Fox Salon. This immersive interior is characterized by organic forms, natural light, and an eight-foot-wide skylight framed by a sculpted ceiling oculus that opens the space to the sky.
Arch&Type's design approach allows the movement of sunlight to cast evolving shapes of light and shadow across the walls and floor throughout the day, making time, weather, and season perceptible parts of the interior experience. The design uses the warehouse's scale and exposed structure as a counterpoint to flowing walls, rounded openings, and carefully shaped transitions that establish a contemporary courtyard within the existing shell.
Image Credit: Andrea Wenglowskyj
Key Themes Behind This Trend
- Daylight-driven Interiors
- Dynamic skylights, oculi, and solar movement create retail and service environments where changing natural light becomes a memorable part of the customer experience.
- Adaptive Salon Design
- Former industrial buildings are gaining new relevance as hospitality-like beauty spaces that combine raw structural character with soft, contemporary spatial forms.
- Sensory Retail Spaces
- Immersive interiors that emphasize shadow, seasonality, texture, and atmosphere position everyday services as experiential destinations rather than transactional visits.
Where This Applies
- Beauty and Personal Care
- Hair salons and grooming businesses can differentiate through architecture-led experiences that elevate appointments into premium lifestyle rituals.
- Interior Design
- Design studios are finding opportunity in blending biophilic cues, sculptural forms, and adaptive reuse strategies for commercial clients seeking distinctive environments.
- Commercial Real Estate
- Underused warehouses and legacy structures can be repositioned as high-value service destinations through renovations that preserve scale while adding contemporary comfort.
