Seven listening bars that are easy on the eyes and ears
From a communist-era apartment block in Bucharest to a hot pink Australian bar created to emulate the inside of a jumbo speaker, our latest lookbook collects atmospheric listening bar interiors from around the world.
Listening bars are having a moment. Native to Japan, these spaces first emerged during the late 1920s as intimate settings to meet, drink, and most importantly, listen to music together.
Since then, the bars – also known as hi-fi or audiophile bars – have increasingly spread across the globe. Typically equipped with large sound systems and a wide selection of vinyl records, listening bars are popular for their unique musical offerings.
This lookbook explores how international architects and designers have created the interiors of listening bars to respond to this well-loved model.
This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen's archive. For more inspiration, see previous lookbooks featuring light-filled cottages, exposed concrete bedrooms and sculptural stone sinks.
Kioku Bar, UK, by Pirajean Lees
Kioku Bar is a single-room sake bar on the ground floor of London's OWO hotel, attached to the Kioku restaurant upstairs. Local studio Pirajean Lees designed both venues to capture head chef Endo Kazutoshi's recollections of living and working in Japan and Spain.
Deep red dado and natural clay walls were paired with knobbly timber accents in the low-lit space. In one corner, a bespoke solid wood turntable was positioned for guests to play a selection of Japanese records from Endo's personal collection.
Find out more about Kioku Bar ›
Bar Ton, Romania, by Anda Zota and Muromuro Studio
Local designers Anda Zota and Muromuro Studio transformed a former music shop on the ground floor of a communist-era apartment block in Bucharest into a hi-fi bar.
Bar Ton was created to blend its historical context with modern functionality. The designers maintained the open-plan space's marble mosaic floors and four concrete pillars, adding a timber unit between one pair to hold the main DJ booth. Birch plywood record shelves were inserted between the other two pillars.
"The overarching concept was about putting the music at the centre, both physically and conceptually," explained Zota.
JAM Record Bar, Australia, by Akin Atelier
Owner Justin Hemmes and designer Kelvin Ho of Akin Atelier drew inspiration from Tokyo's many listening bars when creating the hot pink JAM Record Bar in Sydney.
Distinct zones were organised around a central bar while Ho and his team chose specific materials to enhance the acoustic properties of the space – from pink fibreglass insulation panels to sound-absorbing cork. Despite its small floor plan, Bar Ton houses a library of 15,000 records stacked in built-in plywood shelving.
"JAM is designed to feel like you are drinking a cocktail inside a giant speaker box – but pink," said Ho.
Find out more about JAM Record Bar ›
Upstairs, USA, by Shane Davis and Francis Harris
The founders of Brooklyn's "music-driven social space" Public Records added a listening bar and lounge to the upper floor of the creative venue.
Undulated walls bounce music around the room from large subwoofer speakers, while cream leather banquettes and black ceramic and foam stools provide space for listeners to sit and choose from a curated selection of records and CDs.
Find out more about Upstairs ›
Goodbye Horses, UK, by Leopold Banchini Architects
"All the elements" of Swiss studio Leopold Banchini Architects' Goodbye Horses wine and listening bar were crafted from a single oak tree, including custom-made shelves that hold records.
Located in northeast London's De Beauvoir neighbourhood, Goodbye Horses was designed to reference classic English pubs. The space features a hand-textured lime plaster ceiling and beaten earth flooring, chosen for the material's acoustical properties.
Find out more about Goodbye Horses ›
Anima, Germany, by Grzywinski+Pons
Amina is a restaurant and audiophile bar on the ground floor of the Locke at East Side Gallery hotel in Berlin, designed by New York architecture studio Grzywinski+Pons.
Created as a dedicated space for music lovers, Amina features a rich material palette with subtle hues. Locally sourced bricks made from recycled sand and lime were used to fabricate built-in seating and planters, while large sandy-hued speakers were nestled on either side of homely white shelving stacked with records.
Space Talk, UK, by EBBA Architects and Charlotte Taylor
London studio EBBA Architects collaborated with British designer Charlotte Taylor to create Space Talk, a hi-fi bar in the city's Clerkenwell neighbourhood.
Divided into four distinct zones, each area of the bar features a different curation of sound and light to encourage visitors to move through the atmospheric space across an evening. Vintage furniture and objects were paired with acoustic panelling and woodblock columns, forming a distinctly eclectic interior.
Find out more about Space Talk ›
This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen's archive. For more inspiration, see previous lookbooks featuring light-filled cottages, exposed concrete bedrooms and sculptural stone sinks.
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