Barber Black Sheep

Barber Black Sheep is open for business

My most exciting achievement this year was designing my first solo retail environment - Barber Black Sheep.

Located inside Collingwood's Sircuit bar, the traditional barber shop was the brain child of friend and barber Gus Lundt who wanted to offer customers quality service and convenient opening hours within a unique environment.

My brief was to transform a disused rooftop space on the third level of the bar and bring to life the brand in a physical experience.

The bones of the space were the perfect inspiration for the design. The rusted corrugated iron immediately reminded me of my childhood staying on sheep farms and the rustic shearing sheds which were both functional and beautiful at the same time. 

The concept was to work with the existing space and play homage to the beauty of shearing sheds through use of materials including stencilled hessian, exposed rusted corrugated iron and timber. 

To further build on the design story, the building was built in the 1880's as a furniture retailer to complement the local flourishing wool textiles industry, Sircuit bar still has many original features from this time including an amazing stencilled staircase.


With a small space and budget creative solutions were a key focus of the design. An old door was used to mount crates and create a display area for hair product, hessian was hand stencilled for drapes and cushions and the sink and barbers chair were both second hand finds. My favourite feature however is the ceiling mounted clippers, playing homage to shearing traditions.

Barber Black Sheep officially launched 2 weeks ago with customers enjoying traditional barber services including cut throat shaves and was just featured in Melbourne's Time Out magazine http://www.au.timeout.com/melbourne/gay-lesbian/venues/2366/barber-black-sheep


I loved collaborating with Gus on this project and wish him the best of luck with this exciting business venture.

Please check out Barber Black Sheep located upstairs at 103 Smith Street from 4-9pm Wednesday to Sunday and follow Gus on facebook https://www.facebook.com/barberblacksheepaustralia