London-based Unknown Works designed a sound wall made from repurposed galvanised steel and added sheet-metal furniture and fittings to create Salt Salon, a “bold yet refined salon” in Borough Market.
Located in a former storehouse in London’s busy Borough Market area, the hairdressing salon was designed to feel like a haven away from the streets below.
Unknown Works focused on both the practical and the social aspects of the space, which will function as an events venue and listening space as well as a hair salon.
Much of the building’s original structure was retained, and the studio worked with recycled materials wherever possible.
“We set out to create a bold yet refined salon that doubles as a dynamic cultural hub,” Unknown Works director Ben Hayes told Dezeen.
“Sound became our primary tool for spatial transformation, expanding how diverse audiences engage with the space whilst making it more accessible and deeply rooted in Salt Salon’s community.”
“The design encourages people to move fluidly between these different atmospheres, transitioning between intimate treatments, cultural programming and sonic experiences,” he continued.
Salt Salon is spread over three floors, each of which has a different function and distinctive design. On the first floor, visitors are met by a statement installation – a custom-made sound wall developed together with hi-fi start-up Friendly Pressure.
The galvanised-steel wall was made from salvaged metal and shelves from the Victoria & Albert Museum’s Blythe House storage facility.
“We work with many cultural institutions and have previously worked with The Science Museum on the new Energy Revolution Gallery,” Hayes explained.
“During that project, we began salvaging materials from the Blythe House archive facility – which serves both The Science Museum and the V&A – and experimenting with robotic forming,” he added.
“This research and development enabled us to repurpose galvanised steel for the sound wall and furniture. Using these reclaimed materials gave us durable, high-quality components with a story that ties the project to a wider cultural network.”
Aptly called The Listening Floor, this first floor holds the reception as well as hairdressing stations, but can also be used for events and as a bar.
The next floor up, The Cutting Floor, has more hairdressing stations and also features plenty of metal, including mirrors that were made from polished steel.
Unknown Works was conscious of the acoustic challenges that can come with working with steel and took steps to ensure the salon would also be suitable for a listening space.
“Metal was central for durability, but we managed its acoustic challenges carefully: the building’s angled plan and non-parallel walls reduce echoes, and foam-based modular furniture softens sound reflections,” Hayes said.
“The exposed timber ceiling also helps scatter sound naturally.”
On the third floor, The Colour Floor, the designers created a calmer environment for those who come in for longer treatment, such as colouring.
While this room is also filled with metal, the plan is for its floor to eventually become stained with hair dye to reflect the process taking place in the space.
“Each celebrates the building’s character as a historic storehouse for Borough Market,” Hayes said of the different floors.
“Openings puncture between floors to create vertical connections whilst maintaining individual character: three floors, three personalities, connected through materials and sound.”
As well as the first-floor sound wall, Unknown Works designed all of the integrated joinery, including the modular furniture, bar unit and wall lights, for the salon.
“Our studio’s research and development into incremental sheet forming of metals opened new formal possibilities that traditional metalwork couldn’t achieve for the joinery and the custom loudspeakers in collaboration with Friendly Pressure,” Hayes explained.
“The recycled steel was reshaped to create the sound wall, achieving material sovereignty from salvage to installation.”
Salt Salon in Borough Market is the brand’s second London venue, following its space in Dalston, and founder John Paul Scott said the new space fully fulfilled his brief to not “look or feel like a typical salon”.
“It needed to have an energy that surprised people, that almost challenged their expectations of what a hairdressing space can be,” he told Dezeen.
“Unknown Works understood that immediately, and the result is something closer to a contemporary venue than a salon – a place that feels alive and distinctively Salt.”
Other hair salons recently featured on Dezeen include a Barcelona salon designed for customers with curly hair and an East London salon built from plant-based materials.
The photography is by Henry Woide.
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