Designed by: @unknown.works

Captured by: @henrywoide

SALT Salon’s new Borough premises transform a Victorian storehouse in London’s historic Borough Market into a listening environment where hairdressing rituals are shaped by sound and club culture. Designed by Unknown Works, the project occupies three levels of the listed brick building, creating a second home for the growing hair brand. Each floor has a distinct function and acoustic identity, while a sound system embedded throughout the bespoke interiors allows the atmosphere to shift from ambient mornings to immersive evening sessions.

The first floor houses the ‘Listening Room’, with cutting stations and reception arranged around a central gathering space. At night, the reception becomes a bar for performances, talks and listening sessions. Two large galvanised steel loudspeakers form the centre of the room, incrementally shaped using roboforming, a low-energy digital fabrication technology. Developed with Friendly Pressure, the speakers draw on elements of UK soundsystem culture. Bespoke joinery and metalwork were fabricated using salvaged shelves and metal from Blythe House, previously used by London’s V&A, Science Museum and British Museum.

The second floor contains the open-plan ‘Cutting Floor’, centred around a continuous stainless-steel mirror that shifts from buffed and mottled surfaces, providing privacy, to mirror-polished areas for reflection. Suspended Friendly Pressure Pickney loudspeakers anchor the room visually and acoustically, while the rear houses a staff room, kitchen and social space separated from the salon by silicone acoustic screens. On the top level, the ‘Colour Floor’ features a half-tonne sculptural mirror workstation suspended from the original timber rafters. Made from ultra-bright stainless steel, it works as both a reflective surface and diffuser, while its intended staining from hair dye will gradually record the creative process.

Sound is integrated throughout the salon, influencing both materials and furnishings. Bespoke chairs made from recycled foam absorb low-frequency sound, while floor-to-ceiling silicone panels reduce reflections and improve acoustic clarity. Mirrors are polished to reflect and refract, softening visual boundaries between guests, while bespoke bio-resin lights, created by Unknown Works from imprints of the formed metal panels, add another layer to the material language. Across the three floors, the architecture is conceived as an instrument in itself, shaping the salon’s acoustic character alongside its hairdressing and cultural functions.