Opal & Boa
Philadelphia, PA
When your client says yes to an enormous flying boa, you take the leap!
This project began with a clear vision: to create a salon where the service feels exceptional, and where people feel seen the moment they walk in.
The name gave us the foundation. “Opal” comes from a shared family birthstone, representing creativity and inner fire. “Boa” references the Year of the Snake, a symbol of strength, movement, and confidence. That balance shaped everything that followed.
We knew early on that the space needed one bold move: a larger-than-life metal boa that soars through the salon from front wall to back wall to ceiling. It is not something you simply look at. You feel it. You are pulled into it. As you enter, the head meets you at exactly eye level. From there, the form moves you through the space, creating a powerful and transformative experience.
The piece was developed through notebook sketches, field studies, research of snakes, and full-scale mockups in our workshop. Every curve was studied and reshaped until the movement felt right. The final installation was laser cut from nine 8-foot steel plates, totaling 72 feet in length, and finished in a custom brass powder coat. Its fabrication and installation required meticulous precision and coordination, so the final experience could feel completely effortless.
The entry lounge welcomes the neighborhood into a dynamic spatial experience. Restored historic windows allow the movement and energy of Old City to be seen and felt inside. The space is modern, but it does not turn away from its architecture or context. It embraces its history. Old and new meet in a way that feels empowering, alive, and unmistakably specific to this place.
When you are here, you feel welcomed. When you leave, you feel empowered, elevated, and transformed.
Opal & Boa has quickly become an anchor in Old City and a game changer in Philadelphia’s beauty industry. People come in for a service, but they stay for the experience.
Architecture, interiors, branding, and fabrication were developed together from the start, not layered on after. The result is a salon that feels cohesive, immersive, and impossible to forget.
