unknown works

The Beatriz González retrospective exhibition at the Barbican Centre is the largest-ever European show for this groundbreaking artist, bringing together 150 artworks created over six decades, many of which have never seen before in the UK. The exhibition runs from now until 10th May and forms a highlight of the Barbican’s Spring 2026 season.⁠ ⁠ Sustainable and circular materiality is at the heart of exhibition designer Unknown Works's approach. Over 50% of the Honext Boards were surplus waste of old stock, rescued from material storehouses around the UK. Made of paper waste, these panels are already in their second life - the intention is to imbue them with a potential third life. 90% of the panels from the current show have been allocated to future projects, and have been coated in a finish that increases its durability and purposefully does not compromise its future reuse and eventual recyclability.⁠ ⁠ @Barbicancentre curatorial team:⁠ Curator: Lotte Johnson / Assistant Curator: Diego Chocano / Exhibition Organiser: Rita Duarte⁠ Lead Designer: @Unknown.Works ⁠ Contractor: @RasklStudio ⁠ Graphics: @RolandBrauchli ⁠ ⁠ Photography: @HenryWoide ⁠ ⁠ #beatrizgonzalez #barbican #barbicangallery #barbicancentre #art #artgallery #design #architecture #exhibitiondesign #exhibition #gallery #painting #drawing #media #colombia #sustainability #sustainable #sustainabledesign #furniture #furnituredesign #recyclable #paper #papertecture #circulareconomy #culture #interior #interiors #artist #cnc

We are delighted that The Armadillo has been included on the front cover of the latest issue of Architecture Today. 📸 @henrywoide

SALT Salon @saltsalonlondon has a second home in London’s historic Borough Market. SALT Salon sees the transformation of a Victorian storehouse into a highly crafted listening environment, where hairdressing rituals are shaped by sound and club culture. The project creates a new, experience-led 3-storey sonic salon on Stoney Street. The bespoke joinery and all specialist metal roboforming for this particular project was designed and developed by Unknown Works and fabricated using salvaged metal and shelves from Blythe House; the storage facility previously used by the V&A, Science Museum and British Museum. Architect and Lead Design: @unknown.works Loudspeaker and Sound: @friendly.pressure Structure: @something.studio Contractor: @sgshopfitters Furniture: @twentytwentyone Photography: @henrywoide

AWARDS//⁠ ⁠ Salt Salon is a finalist for multiple design awards this week! Nominated for Mix Interiors Awards for multiple categories, as well as Architizer A+Awards - one in only five projects worldwide to be shortlisted in its category.⁠ Unknown Works have reconceived the hair salon as a listening room and event space, integrating sound and club culture with hairdressing rituals, creating a highly functional retrofit of a listed building in London’s busy Borough Market.⁠ ⁠ @saltsalonlondon @friendly.pressure ⁠ @something.studio @sgshopfitters ⁠ #finalist #awards #leisure #retail #culture #interiors #architecture #design #architizerawards #mixawards2026 #mixawards #sustainable #hair #salon

Vision Centre Site Progress // Finishing Summer 2026⁠ ⁠ Unknown Works are working on a new, state-of-the art 10,000 SQM UK Headquarters and Research & Development facility for global contact lens manufacturer @CooperVision . ⁠ ⁠ The Vision Centre, a technically complex multi-functional workspace, will provide a base for 400 employees, from Summer 2026. @Overbury have completed the first fix in the office, atrium, and laboratories and 2nd fix is well underway. The Vision Centre is a space of collaboration and interaction - Central to the atrium is the Social Hill for which steelwork has now been installed as well as a mega hung steel plate stair, bespoke domed eye lights shaped like giant contact lenses have been installed ready to be plastered in, and stainless steel mesh balustrades line the voluminous atrium ready for planting. Stay tuned for more Stage 5 updates! ⁠ ⁠ #office #futureworkspace #workspace #design #sustainablearchitecture #sustainabledesign #sustainability #sustainable #research #R&D #interiors #officedesign #innovation #innovate #headquarters #officespace ⁠#architect #science #humancentred ⁠#vision #construction #bespoke #steelwork #steel #stateoftheart ⁠

The Beatriz Gonzalez exhibition, designed by Unknown Works, is at the @Barbicancentre until this Sunday 10th May, in the main gallery space. Don’t miss your chance to explore the fascinating works of Beatriz Gonzalez. ⁠ ⁠ Unknown Works have created a spatial and material narrative across both levels of the gallery, using paper-tecture in response to the artist’s close working relationship with the print media. Low level plinths, closed display vitrines, and monolithic benches are made from recycled paper panels, scalloped, sanded, and sealed.⁠ ⁠ “The use of paper directly echoes González’s fascination with politics, culture and people,” Theo Games Petrohilos explained “Beatriz González was very much an experimenter, producing work in a range of formats, scales, media and materials. We have greatly enjoyed our explorations into her distinctly challenging, sharp yet playful approach.”⁠ ⁠ Lead Designer: @Unknown.Works ⁠ Contractor: @RasklStudio ⁠ Graphics: @RolandBrauchli ⁠ @Barbicancentre curatorial team:⁠ Curator: Lotte Johnson / Assistant Curator: Diego Chocano / Exhibition Organiser: Rita Duarte⁠ Photography: @HenryWoide ⁠ ⁠ #beatrizgonzalez #barbican #barbicangallery #barbicancentre #art #artgallery #design #architecture #exhibitiondesign #exhibition #gallery #painting #drawing #media #colombia #sustainability #sustainable #sustainabledesign #furniture #furnituredesign #recyclable #paper #papertecture #circulareconomy #culture #interior #interiors #artist #cnc⁠ ⁠

OBJECTS ⁠By Unknown Works ⁠ Unknown Works introduces Objects - a selection of furniture, products, objects, and special moments from projects that we have designed and produced. These have developed out of our research into materials, innovative production methods and the needs of our live projects. ⁠ ⁠ #furniture #design #furnituredesign #objects #architecture #architect #sustainable #sustainability #interiors #interiordesign #production #moments⁠

@ThousandYearTrust are building the UK’s first Rainforest Research Station in partnership with @UnknownWorks and @Woodlandtrust ⁠ ⁠ Set within Cabilla Rainforest Valley on Bodmin Moor, the site spans ancient woodland, recovering forest, and degraded farmland, offering a rare opportunity for year-round research within a living rainforest landscape.⁠ ⁠ We’re proud to be working closely with @WoodlandTrust to carefully source timber from rainforest restoration sites on the edge of Dartmoor, ensuring that extraction supports ecological resilience and long-term forest stewardship.⁠ ⁠ This project rethinks how we build:⁠ ⁠ • Designing with local, mixed-species, climate-resilient UK timber⁠ ⁠ • Unlocking underutilised species for structural and non-structural use⁠ ⁠ • Prioritising raw materials over globalised supply chains⁠ ⁠ • Creating a building that acts as a living library of restoration timber⁠ ⁠ Together with @FormatEngineers , @EmanuelHendryltd and @evolving_forests , we are realising a research facility that will help catalyse the restoration of temperate rainforests across the UK, the first of its kind in Europe.⁠ ⁠ Now underway, this project explores how rainforests can support biodiversity, climate stability, and human wellbeing, and how we can protect and expand them for the future.⁠ ⁠ #TemperateRainforest #RainforestRestoration #TimberConstruction #BodminMoor #WoodlandTrust #SustainableArchitecture #ClimateResilience #trees #forest #regenerative #climate #restoration #timber #ecological #environment #research #ancient #woodland #material #design #interiordesign #architecture #facilities

Documented in our April issue: Free Jazz in the Hair Salon by @unknown.works The Salt Salon in London blends hairdressing rituals with club culture. Recycled metal panels and 3D-printed speakers create an immersive spatial experience. Ben Hayes and Theo Games Petrohilos report on the productive interplay between analogue and digital design. Find out more about the project in DETAIL 4.2026 and in our digital database Detail Inspiration tail.de - Link in our bio Photos: @henrywoide #detailmagazine #architecture #architects #hairsalon #interiors

PAPERTECTURE⁠ ⁠ Unknown Works designed the UK’s first major Beatriz González retrospective – open at the Barbican main gallery until 10th May 2026. ⁠ ⁠ In response to the Colombian artist’s close working relationship with print media the show is made from recycled paper. Low level plinths, closed display vitrines, and monolithic benches are made from paper panels - Honext sheets, saved from old stock and already in their second life, will be re-used as part of a permanent project after the exhibition closes.⁠ ⁠ All paper surfaces are roughly sanded and sealed, revealing the inherent fibres of the paper and adding texture and depth. Shallow scallops have been machined into the top surface of each bench, revealing the contours of each layer.⁠ ⁠ “The use of paper directly echoes González’s fascination with politics, culture and people,” Theo Games Petrohilos explained. “Beatriz González was very much an experimenter, producing work in a range of formats, scales, media and materials. ⁠ ⁠ Lead Designer: @Unknown.Works ⁠ ⁠ @Barbicancentre curatorial team:⁠ Curator: Lotte Johnson / Assistant Curator: Diego Chocano / Exhibition Organiser: Rita Duarte⁠ ⁠ Contractor: @RasklStudio ⁠ Graphics: @RolandBrauchli ⁠ ⁠ Photography: @HenryWoide ⁠ ⁠ #beatrizgonzalez #barbican #barbicangallery #barbicancentre #art #artgallery #design #architecture #exhibitiondesign #exhibition #gallery #painting #drawing #media #colombia #sustainability #sustainable #sustainabledesign #furniture #furnituredesign #recyclable #paper #papertecture #circulareconomy #culture #interior #interiors #artist #cnc #london⁠ ⁠ ⁠

Gathering Place Unknown Works create spaces for cultural and community exchange designed for hybrid programming and communal use. Current projects include the new Migration Museum in Central London and a series of venues for nightlife. We look beyond program, beyond brief and embed cultural thinking into all of our projects whether they be in a commercial or institutional setting. The 2000sqm Zeekr European flagship in Amsterdam is centred around a stepped gathering space bounded by transparent digital panels - designed to be taken over by local and global artists and activated for cultural events. The open shop floor has spaces for learning, presentation while downstairs is designed to transform into a club space. Salt SE1 is a space for hair, fashion, music, empowerment and community. 3 storeys of sonic salon transition into listening, performance and contemplation spaces, creating a platform for parties, record launches, talks and photo shoots. Programmable soundsystem designed in collaboration with @friendlypressure @saltsalonlondon Big Penny Social, a multi-storey event and performance space, accommodates anything from wrestling to ceilidhs, commercial take-overs and headline music and comedy acts. Phase 2 is designed as a performance space and theatre, working with @charcoalblue @studio360it is acoustically separated, tuned and optimised for use as a worldclass venue. The Vortex, a London music scene gem was reimagined as a flexible cultural and community asset. Two storeys of performance space allow for multidirectional audience engagement, media recording, and events ranging from intimate instrumental jazz sessions to club nights – diversifying the venue’s reach. The Armadillo was designed and built to host a rich array of programming. From talks to meditation gatherings, gong baths and techno sets. Moving from its first install location at @trinitybouywharf to its permanent forest home @houghtonhall it comes alive during @houghtonfestival alongside Unknown Works’ Derren Smart Stage. #architecture #gathering #publicarealm #culture #venue #architect #design #community #music #digital #analogue #performance #performancespace

set within a victorian storehouse beside borough market, the project repositions the salon through acoustics, fabrication and subcultural memory. across three levels, the retained brick shell hosts a calibrated sonic environment. the ground-floor listening room combines cutting stations with a reception-bar that converts into a venue. two galvanised steel loudspeakers, developed with friendly pressure, reference uk soundsystem culture. upstairs, a continuous stainless steel mirror defines the cutting floor, balancing privacy and precision, with suspended speakers tuning the space. the colour floor introduces a suspended steel workstation that acts as focal object and acoustic diffuser, its surface recording dye over time. recycled foam seating and silicone panels control reverberation, framing grooming as a sonic practice. | designed by: unknown works | project: salt salon borough (2025) | location: london, united kingdom | photography: henry woide @unknown.works @henrywoide @saltsalonlondon . 🕵🏼 @vestigare_ is an architectural investigation archive. we seek projects that instigate and provoke. ✉️ send us your project: [email protected]