Sound bites: Sonos Studio launches in London’s Shoreditch

Shoreditch is one of London’s hotbeds of creativity in all things design and visual - and with the arrival of the brand new Sonos Studio on Club Row, we can also add ’music’ to that list. 

The modern home audio system company already has a Sonos Studio in Los Angeles and its popularity and success inspired the creation of the brand’s second public studio, this time in East London. Conceived as a space that links artists with their audience; a place for musical experimentation; and a dedicated area for events and exhibition, the studio is a bona fide, all-round creative hub, accessible to all.

Visitors will not only have the chance to sample company’s state-of-the-art product; the idea is that this hub will provide a platform linking ’the physical and the digital, local and global’, explain Sonos, ’providing ground for prototyping innovative experiences in music, art and technology’. 

Housed in a two-storey warehouse, elegantly made over by London based design firm Brinkworth (with a visual identity by Bruce Mau), Sonos Studio features a concert space, listening rooms, work stations and a café, as well as a creative programme of events and exhibitions. 

Brinkworth kept the warehouse’s industrial feel, but updated the interior to fit the new use’s contemporary demands. Ceiling rafts and ground floor louvers were added to improve acoustics in the space. Tile patterns draw on Mau’s design and tactile, natural materials (such as reclaimed timber floor, sourced from the old BBC Broadcast House) were employed throughout to create a welcoming, homely feel. 

For its opening celebrations this weekend, the Sonos Studio has commissioned eight artists to create new work for the space; Ewen Spencer, Sam Coldy, Manuel Sepulveda and Jack Featherstone are part of the roster, working across video, sound, sculpture and graphics.