The salon, hair brand SALT’s second venue, is on Stoney Street in London’s Borough Market, and is designed to be a listening environment where hairdressing is shaped by both sound and club culture.

The salon takes over three levels of a listed brick building, each having a distinct hairdressing function, as well as spatial and acoustic identity.

A sound system has been embedded into the interior and is designed to be programmable for different sonic salon environments, ranging from ‘ambient’ mornings to ‘textured’ afternoons and ‘immersive’ evening sessions.

On the first floor is a listening room, which doubles up as a venue for performances, talks and deep listening, allowing the flexible space to transition from service to event mode. A row of cutting stations and a reception area, which becomes a bar at night, frames the central gathering space – also defined by large, galvanised steel loudspeakers formed using roboforming, a low-energy digital fabrication technology.

Unknown Works developed the specialist roboformed bespoke metal joinery for the project using salvaged metal and shelves from Blythe House, the storage facility previously used by the Science Museum, British Museum and V&A, which recently moved its collection to the Diller Scofidio + Renfro-designed V&A East Storehouse.

Unknown Works had already used 225 of the Blythe House shelves to construct its Energy Revolution Gallery, a permanent 800m2 gallery for the Science Museum, which this month won the fit-out category in the AJ Retrofit & Reuse Awards.

SALT Salon’s speakers were developed in collaboration with start-up Friendly Pressure, whose designs focus on UK sound system culture.

The second floor hosts an open-plan cutting floor, featuring a continuous mirror formed from a stainless-steel sheet and finished in a gradation from buffed to mottled, allowing a move from privacy to mirror polish. A staff room, kitchen and social space are screened off with a silicone divider.

The colour floor to the top level has a suspended, half-tonne sculptural mirror workstation, hung from the original timber rafters. Made from ‘ultra-bright’ stainless steel, it also acts as a diffuser. Over time, it is planned that the floor in this space will become stained from dye use, showing the creative process.

Bespoke modular chairs throughout the building are made from recycled foam and designed to absorb low-frequency sound. Floor-to-ceiling suspended silicone panels also dampen reflections. In addition, Unknown Works has designed bio-resin lights as imprints of the formed metal panels.

SALT’s first salon is in Dalston, east London, occupying a former 19th-century tramway store.

Architect’s view

This listed Victorian storehouse has been boldly reimagined as a space where sound operates as both material and medium. Every element, from the bespoke loudspeakers to the acoustic furniture, has been precisely tuned to create an entirely new salon experience. It’s a fundamental rethinking of what these spaces can be.
Ben Hayes, director, Unknown Works

 

Client’s view

My ethos has always been to create the best hairdressing space for people to work in and visit, that caters for everyone. One of the things I love about hairdressing salons is that they are kind of impartial, open spaces. Anyone can come to SALT and be looked after and enjoy it. I’m a Londoner and have always had a bit of an obsession with Borough Market. You can feel the history there. It’s such an important place.

The brief for SALT Salon Borough was to bring all the things we already do – hair, sound, music, drinks – and elevate it to a completely new level. We were ambitious with it, and Unknown Works ran with that. I wanted to do something that would almost shock people, but which would put SALT Salon on the map. Unknown Works played a huge part in achieving that with their forward-thinking design. They have been amazing and it’s been a great collaboration.
John Paul Scott, founder, SALT Salon

 

Project data

Location Stoney Street, Borough Market, London
Start on site June 2025
Completion date August 2025
Construction cost £290,000
Architect and lead designer Unknown Works
Loudspeaker and sound design Friendly Pressure
Structural engineer Something Studio
Contractor S&G Shopfitters
Lighting contractor Churchill Electrical Solutions
MEP subconsultant Fiorentini Plumbing and Heating
Additional furniture designer twentytwentyone (non-bespoke items only)