Swedish studio Sweco Architects has covered the ceiling of this hair salon in Umeå with 85 green MDF boxes.

The Clip Drop In hair salon has a narrow floor plan with glass fronts and doors at each end; one that opens out onto a street and the other onto an indoor shopping mall.

Sweco Architects covered the central strip of ceiling in lidless MDF boxes, which have been fixed upside-down.

The boxes vary in size and have been painted six different shades of green. Some have been turned into light boxes while others simply hide the ventilation pipes.

"The green colour of the MDF boxes was chosen to create a feeling of sitting under the leaves of a big tree," Peter Järvholm of Sweco Architects told Dezeen.

The surrounding ceiling is covered by a metal grid. "We wanted a clean transparent ceiling where all the installations (fans, cooling etc) and light fittings were placed above," said the architects.

Below the green boxes, white trestle-like benches have been transformed into workspaces. Double-sided mirrors divide the tables to create hair-cutting areas on each side.

The workspaces are arranged in rows along the centre of the salon with swivel Swan chairs by Arne Jacobsen for customers.

One wall of the salon is lined with perforated steel screens, which illuminate at night along with the neon Clip signs at each entrance when the salon is closed. Built-in sofas with green cushions and display areas are positioned on the opposite wall.

On the busier mall side, an area at the front of the salon has been designated to retail. To one side there is a hair-washing area, partly hidden behind a curtain.

The bathroom is disguised behind full-length mirrors. "By using a lot of mirrors we created the effect of a larger salon and the mirrors also hide the wet areas," said Peter Järvholm.

The floors are covered in white stained-ash mosaic parquet and ceramic tiles.

Photography is by August Wiklund.