Water, which is the whole feasibility
Most Mumbai buildings receive municipal water for two to four hours a day into a tank. A salon consumes far more than the flat it replaced, and the arithmetic has to be done before the lease.
- Calculate the day. Six washes an hour at 12–18 litres, ten hours of trading, plus pedicure, laundry, cleaning and staff use. A six-station salon comfortably uses 1,400–2,200 litres a day.
- Storage is the answer, and it needs a location. A 2,000-litre underground or ground-level tank plus a 500-litre overhead for gravity feed, with a booster pump for the wash units. That tank needs a place and a structural check if it is on a slab.
- Agree the supply with the society in writing. Many buildings apportion water by flat, and a salon drawing four times a residential share will become a dispute by the third month. A separate meter or an agreed monthly charge settles it.
- Hot water recovery, not just capacity. A 100-litre storage heater that takes 90 minutes to recover is useless on a Saturday. Either multiple heaters zoned to the wash bay, or an instantaneous system with adequate gas or electrical supply.
- Have a tanker plan. In a bad April, parts of this city run short. Know in advance whether a tanker can reach the building and where it would discharge.
Drainage and the society
- Wash units and pedicure stations need a drain with a fall to the existing stack. In a converted ground-floor flat the stack is where the kitchen and bathroom were, and that is where the wet zone will be, whatever the mood board says.
- Hair is the operational problem. Accessible hair traps at every wash unit and an interceptor before the main line. A salon that blocks the building’s drain once will spend the rest of its tenancy in negotiation.
- Colour and bleach need a settlement trap at the colour bar. Societies increasingly ask for this in writing, and it is reasonable.
- Pedicure pump-out units are the practical answer where the drain is far. They need a power point and a discharge within about 10 m, and they must be maintainable.
- Chemical smell is a consent condition. Extract discharge position, away from residential windows and above the ground-floor level, is usually the thing the committee actually asks about.
- Trading hours will be written into the consent. Salons here commonly run 10am to 9pm; expect the society to fix that and to restrict Sunday operation in some buildings.
The small Mumbai unit
Four hundred to twelve hundred square feet is the normal brief, and the back-of-house allocation is what most operators get wrong. In a 700 sq ft salon, 18–25% goes to the colour bar, laundry, store and staff area — that is 125–175 sq ft that cannot be a station.
| Unit size | Realistic stations | Wash units | Treatment rooms | Back of house |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 400 – 550 sq ft | 4 – 5 | 2 | 0 | 80 – 120 sq ft |
| 600 – 800 sq ft | 6 – 8 | 2 – 3 | 1 | 125 – 180 sq ft |
| 900 – 1,200 sq ft | 9 – 12 | 3 – 4 | 2 | 180 – 280 sq ft |
| 1,500 – 2,400 sq ft | 14 – 20 | 5 – 6 | 3 – 4 | 320 – 520 sq ft |
| Day spa, 1,500 sq ft+ | 2 – 4 | 1 – 2 | 6 – 9 | 380 – 600 sq ft |
Assumes 1,500 mm styling stations with 1,200 mm clearance behind. A unit with an awkward column grid loses one to two stations.
Rates by location and format
| Location | Full-service salon ₹/sq ft | Day spa ₹/sq ft |
|---|---|---|
| Bandra West, Khar, Juhu | ₹2,800 – 3,800 | ₹3,400 – 4,800 |
| Lower Parel, Worli, malls | ₹2,900 – 4,000 | ₹3,600 – 4,800 |
| Andheri West, Lokhandwala, Versova | ₹1,900 – 2,900 | ₹2,600 – 3,600 |
| Powai, Chembur, Ghatkopar | ₹1,900 – 2,800 | ₹2,500 – 3,500 |
| Borivali, Kandivali, Mulund | ₹1,900 – 2,600 | ₹2,400 – 3,200 |
| Thane and Navi Mumbai | ₹1,900 – 2,500 | ₹2,300 – 3,100 |
Ex-GST. Includes civil, joinery, plumbing, electrical, ventilation, lighting and finishes. Excludes chairs, wash units, beds and equipment.
A salon owner in Lokhandwala asked us why the quote had two lakh of water storage in it. Three months later the building went on tankers for a fortnight and hers was the only salon on the lane that kept trading.
Greenbox commercial fit-out lead
Five things a Mumbai salon survey checks
- Electrical load. Six dryers, four heaters, a steamer and the air conditioning will exceed a residential sanctioned load. Converting the connection to a commercial tariff and raising the load takes weeks and has to start early.
- Floor build-up available. Wash unit and pedicure drainage needs a fall, and a converted flat usually offers 50–75 mm of build-up. That is workable, but it decides how far from the stack the wet zone can reach.
- Shopfront rights. A ground-floor society unit frequently has no permitted shopfront at all. Whether you can open the elevation, and to what extent, is a committee matter and it changes the entire frontage strategy.
- Extract route. Where the chemical extract discharges, and whose window it is near. On a mixed-use building this is the single most likely reason consent is refused.
- Storage for retail stock. Retail is eight to fifteen per cent of salon revenue and needs secure, dry, lockable storage — which in a 700 sq ft unit competes directly with a station.
Chair economics, in Mumbai rent
A station has to pay for the square feet it occupies. At ₹280 per sq ft a month in Andheri West, a 1,500 × 900 mm station plus its share of circulation and back of house occupies roughly 42 sq ft, which is ₹11,760 a month of rent before anything else. That number is why we argue against compressing stations to fit one more in: a crowded salon loses more in repeat business than the extra chair earns. It is also why treatment rooms, at a higher revenue per square foot, usually deserve the area an operator wants to give to two more styling chairs.
Programme and access
Six to twelve weeks on site depending on format, working 10am to 6pm in a society building. Plumbing first fix and the water storage installation are the critical path, not the joinery, which is made off site. Allow a week to ten days ahead of that for the society NOC, the deposit of ₹50,000–₹2,00,000 for a commercial fit-out, and the written agreement on water, drainage, extract and trading hours.
The design fundamentals
Station dimensions, plumbing loads, ventilation rates, mirror lighting specification and format rate bands are the same everywhere and are set out on salon and spa interior design. Related Mumbai formats are covered on gym interior designers in Mumbai and retail interior designers in Mumbai.
Selected commercial work by Greenbox Design Studio. Tap any image to enlarge.
Frequently asked questions
What does a salon fit-out cost in Mumbai?+
₹1,900–₹2,500 per sq ft for a full-service salon in Thane and Navi Mumbai, ₹1,900–₹2,900 across the western suburbs and ₹2,800–₹4,000 in Bandra West, Khar, Juhu and Lower Parel. Day spas run ₹2,300–₹4,800. All ex-GST, excluding chairs, wash units, beds and equipment.
How much water does a Mumbai salon need?+
A six-station salon uses 1,400–2,200 litres on a full trading day, counting washes at 12–18 litres each, pedicure, laundry, cleaning and staff use. Because the city supplies water on a timed schedule, that has to be stored on site — typically a 2,000-litre tank plus 500 litres overhead with a booster set.
Will a society allow a salon on the ground floor?+
Often, with written consent for non-residential use. Expect conditions on trading hours, the extract discharge position away from residential windows, a settlement trap at the colour bar, an accessible hair interceptor before the main drain, and either a separate water meter or an agreed monthly charge.
How many stations fit in a 700 sq ft Mumbai salon?+
Six to eight styling stations, two or three wash units and one treatment room, once you allow 125–180 sq ft for the colour bar, laundry, store and staff area. Compressing the stations below 1,400 mm of width to fit another chair in typically costs more in repeat business than it earns.
How long does a Mumbai salon fit-out take?+
Six to twelve weeks on site under 10am–6pm society hours, with plumbing first fix and the water storage installation on the critical path rather than the joinery. Allow a week to ten days before that for the NOC, the ₹50,000–₹2,00,000 commercial fit-out deposit and the written agreements on water, drainage and hours.
Where should the pedicure stations go?+
Near the existing drainage if there is a fall available, or anywhere within about 10 m of a drain if you use pump-out units, which is the practical answer in most converted Mumbai premises. Pump-out units need a power point and have to remain accessible for service, so plan the joinery around a removable panel.