Meet Samuel
Samuel Faber. The office that scaled five times.
At 38 Rangwee in Luxembourg City, in a building that used to be a gym, Salonkee built its headquarters from scratch. The dance mirrors are gone. In their place: 120 desks, call boxes, a boardroom, and an open space with blue industrial beams running across the ceiling.
Samuel Faber is the co-founder and CFO of Salonkee. He joined the company in 2016 when it had no office, no funding, and no clients. The company was registered at the home of their CEO’s parents. Today, it has over 300 employees, 12,000 salon clients across six European countries, and has raised over 35 million euros.
The office was designed by Studio Samuelov, the same firm behind the House of Startups. The brief was simple: keep the startup energy alive. Colors on the walls. Dogs in the hallway. A ping-pong table between two meeting rooms. Not a bank.
What makes this space interesting is the story behind it. Samuel signed the lease before the architect saw the building. He designed for 120 people when the team was only 40. He tried to sublet empty desks. It did not work. The team grew too fast.
Looking back, he would change one thing. More open space. Fewer closed offices. Because when your company changes shape every six months, flexibility matters more than aesthetics.
In this visit with She Said Yes!, Samuel opens the doors to the Salonkee headquarters. We explore a workspace built to keep up with hypergrowth. From the open space where developers plug in each morning to the boardroom where strategy gets decided, every corner reflects what happens when a startup outgrows its space five times in eight years.
City
Howald
Date
April 2026
Photos & Video
She Said Yes!
SSY You went from no office to 120 desks. Where did it start?
Samuel At the beginning, we had no office at all. The company was registered at the home of our CEO’s parents. That was the cheapest option. We worked like that for two years. Our first real office was a 10 square meter room at the House of Startups in 2018. Four people. Not even room for a fifth chair. But we were proud of it.
SSY How did you grow inside the House of Startups?
Samuel We kept upgrading rooms. First a room for four. Then eight. Then two rooms of eight. Then one of twelve and one of eight. The House of Startups was flexible. You could just take more space as you needed it. That worked until we reached 40 people. Then they told us we were too big.
SSY What did you look for in a new space?
Samuel We did not want to go from a beautiful place like the House of Startups to some boring old offices. We wanted to keep the same energy. The same colors. The same startup feeling. That was the brief.
SSY How did you find this building?
Samuel This used to be a gym. A big one. There was a dance studio with mirrors on every wall. We signed the lease before the architect even saw the place. We called him after. He could have been angry. But he said we made a good choice.
SSY Who designed the space?
Samuel The same designer who did the House of Startups. Studio Samuelov. We asked who designed the House of Startups and we got connected. The brief was simple. Keep the energy. Make it colorful. Make it feel alive. Not a corporate box.
SSY You signed a lease for 120 people when you were only 40. Was that risky?
Samuel It was a bet. We even tried to sublet empty desks to small companies. It did not work. We were hiring so fast that the subtenants had to leave after one or two months. Today the office is full. We added 300 extra square meters on the other side.
SSY How is the office organized?
Samuel It is a mix of everything. Open space for the developers. They bring their laptop, plug it in, and take it home at night. Closed offices for the finance team and HR because they handle private data. Call boxes for phone calls. A boardroom for serious meetings. And meeting rooms for two, four, or eight people.
SSY Do you allow remote work?
Samuel One day per week. Most people prefer coming to the office. But some roles need focus time. Deep development work, for example. You are more productive at home when nobody interrupts you every five minutes.
SSY If you had to do it again, what would you change?
Samuel More open space. Fewer closed offices. Because when your company changes shape every six months, flexibility beats everything. Right now, every time the marketing team grows, we have to move them to a bigger room. And that means moving HR somewhere else. With open space, you just add desks.
SSY Does the office help with recruiting?
Samuel Yes. It leaves an impression. People walk in and they see the colors. Sometimes there are dogs walking around. They see it is not a bank. That first impression matters a lot when you are trying to attract talent.
SSY What role does the office play in your culture?
Samuel For us it was important to create an atmosphere where everyone feels comfortable. The office is not a cost. It is a message. A good space changes how people behave. If everything is closed, people talk less. If everything is open, it gets tiring. The real challenge is finding the right balance.
Watch the full video Samuel Faber takes us inside the Salonkee headquarters at 38 Rangwee. From the open space to the boardroom. From the call boxes to the ping-pong table. This is what happens when a startup outgrows its space five times in eight years.
Listen to the podcast In the full podcast episode, Samuel talks about raising 35 million euros, opening six countries, managing offices with flexible coworking leases, and why AI has made developers more productive but not less needed.
Link here 👉 shesaidyes.lu/podcast/salonkee-samuel-faber
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