Architeqt Salon and Gallery ★9.9

About the salon

Architeqt Salon and Gallery has shaped hair in Washington Square West since 2012, when stylist Alexey Kats opened it around one conviction: a good haircut should hold its shape without a daily round-brush ritual. The studio built its name on dry cutting, where hair is sculpted the way it actually falls, and on color that grows out gracefully. Philadelphia Magazine has awarded it Best of Philly more than once.

Services

The menu covers precision cutting for women and men, dry cutting and sculpting, and the full color range: balayage, foil highlights, gray coverage, gloss refreshes and correction of work that went wrong elsewhere. Keratin smoothing tames frizz for months, extensions add length or density, and the styling side handles blowouts, event looks and bridal hair.

Technology and brands

Color runs on L’Oreal Professionnel, with K18 and Olaplex bond builders layered into lightening so blondes keep their integrity. The dry-cut method is the salon’s own and is taught in-house. Alexey Kats has designed his own line of cutting and styling tools, and the retail shelf carries home color kits. Tools are disinfected between guests as state licensing requires.

Team and stylists

Alexey Kats is the owner and creative director, with more than two decades as a platform educator, a backstage stylist at New York Fashion Week and a contributor to editorial shoots. New stylists come up through an intensive in-house apprenticeship before they take the floor, and the team keeps training at industry conferences.

The Space

The second word in the name is not decoration. The room is laid out with a gallery’s sense of light and negative space: uncluttered stations set far enough apart that a consultation stays a conversation, and a scent guests mention almost as often as the haircut.

Who it’s for

A salon for people who want a shape that survives a rushed morning, for anyone growing out an old color without a hard line, and for guests who need a correction handled properly. Brides book the day itself and the trial before it; men wanting a real cut are equally at home.

Questions and answers

Can I book online? Yes, through the salon’s booking page; the phone covers anything unusual.

How long should I plan for? A cut and finish runs about an hour; balayage or a correction can take three hours or more.

Do you cut men and children? Yes, both sit on the menu alongside women’s cutting.

Can I combine color and a cut? Yes, the usual request. Say so when booking so enough time is held.

Is a gift certificate available? Yes, gift cards can be arranged through the salon.

Opening hours