Typology: Interior design, Facade
Location: Navarinou 5, Thessaloniki, Greece
Usage: Tattoo studio & Body piercing
Size: 120 m²
Client: Truth Hurts_Delos Tattoo
Construction: 157+173 designers
Date: 2018
Status: Built
Photo: 157+173 designers

TRTH HRTS ( truth hurts ) is a boutique tattoo studio in Thessaloniki.

Trth hrts is designed to emit light, brightness and slick cleanliness, dressed in white and light grey color pallets, in contrast to the usually darker tattoo studios look & feel.
Its unique character is completed by a warm and friendly feel, caused by the extensive use of birch plywood and large white & black terrazzo tiles, splashed with black ink-like spots, referencing to the black tattoo ink, black architectural elements like the main staircase and the use of clear transparent with black details custom ceiling lights.

The core element of the space is its middle “divider”, which separates the space into two, the tattoo lab and the waiting room.
The dIvider itself, consists of a collection of units of different function each, among which a bookshelf and drawing sheets self, a clothes hanger, three roll top units which permit selective view from the waiting room on the lab and vice versa, two service doors connecting the two rooms together, and the main reception “box”, located in the very  middle of the space, acting as an interconnection port, allowing the receptionist to view and move into both rooms.

 

The lab is organized in three tattoo booths, which are selectively separate with each other with curtains, while each booth contains a seat for a guest, a large mirror and a adjustable lamp, able to follow every move of the tattoo artist, while ink shooting.

The waiting room is organized parallel to a large wooden bench for sitting while queuing.
Part of the wooden bench, lowers to 18cm, to become the first of the 20 steps of the main metal staircase, designed to lead to the private tattoo area on the first floor.

On the back of the store, lies a volume – all dressed inside with terrazzo tiles – containing the private and the public wc rooms and a service kitchenette for the tattooist tools to be cleaned and sterilized.
The epoxy flooring on the ground level, becomes the base and the connection surface of all architectural elements of the space and provide some nice faint mirroring effect, while at the same time remains clean and minimal, without sharing much information, to avoid disturbing the eye into this quite compact space.

Outside, a large metal frame glass door, leads one towards the waiting area, while on the left side behind the main showcase window, an installation frame with poly-carbon semi-transparent shutters is placed, allowing, when open, the tattoo artists to selectively reveal the first tattoo booth as an act of live tattoo performance, and while closed, to let the light come through and outline people as moving silhouettes, adding some extra volume, live motion and atmosphere on the front facade of the store.

The set is only completed with the addendum of a one meter tall unbranched cactus with needle-like thorns, to always conceptually reference the tattoo process.