A barbershop where you can actually hear the conversation

A small Glasgow business fixed the echo from mirrors, TVs and music without starting its ceiling from scratch.

Efes Barbers Retail Ceiling Design | Case Studies

Efes Barbers in Glasgow, where Rockfon Color-all in Concrete sits above the timber interior and keeps conversations clear.

A barbershop with a clear identity

When Ali and Mojtaba renovated Efes Barbers in Glasgow, they had a specific vision: a modern Iranian barbershop that combined classic barbershop style with warm timber tones and personal touches from their heritage.

The makeover, carried out during the 2020/21 lockdowns with support from a Glasgow City Council grant, brought in wood-panelled walls, custom black lighting and integrated screens.

The look was right. The sound wasn't.

Mirrors, TVs and music in a small hard room

A barbershop is a difficult acoustic space. Hard mirrored surfaces line the walls, screens play throughout the day, and music is part of the atmosphere.

In a compact unit like Efes, all of that sound reflects off the hard surfaces and builds into echo, making everyday conversations between barber and customer harder to follow and forcing the music up louder to compete.

For a business built around a relaxed, sociable experience, that was a real problem.

The renovation needed an acoustic fix that wouldn't disrupt the carefully chosen timber interior, or the budget of an independent business.

Project info

Project name

Efes Barbers

Location

Glasgow, Scotland

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Products used

Rockfon Color-all®

View

Owners Ali and Mojtaba outside Efes Barbers on Glasgow's London Road.

The Concrete colourway contrasts with the warm timber beams while absorbing sound across the shop.

Color-all in Concrete, on the existing grid

Ali discovered Rockfon Color-all through a Facebook ad and used the Rockfon Colours website to explore finishes. He chose the Concrete colourway, a dark grey that worked with the shop's timber walls and black fixtures rather than against them.

The tiles deliver Class A sound absorption, cutting the reverberation from the mirrors and screens and making speech clearer across the shop. Because the existing ceiling grid was kept in place, installation was simple, with less waste and lower cost, an important factor for a small business.

Jim Lundy, Rockfon's Area Sales Manager for Scotland, supported the project by recommending the right product for the space.

"We're thrilled with the final result. Our customers now feel like they're in an authentic Iranian barbershop and we don't have to worry about playing our music too loud thanks to Rockfon!" said Ali, owner of Efes Barbers.

The finished shop, where the dark ceiling lets the team play music and talk to customers without the room turning into an echo chamber.

A small fix that changed the whole shop

The upgrade turned a compact, echo-prone environment into a calm, balanced space where the interior style and the acoustic comfort finally match. For Ali and Mojtaba, the ceiling was the piece that brought the whole barbershop together.

Also fitting out a small retail or hospitality space where hard surfaces are causing echo? Get in touch, and we'll help you find a finish that fits the look and fixes the sound.