From 1979 to 1983, Salmond was a senior architect at Gillespie, Newman, West and Pearce, where he worked on projects including
Mount Albert Library and a retirement centre at
Te Kauwhata. The completion of his master's thesis coincided with a period of sabbatical leave for his wife in England, and so he lived and worked in that country with his family for a time. During his career as a conservation architect, Salmond was involved in the restoration of many of New Zealand's most important historic buildings. His first major project was the restoration of the Auckland synagogue (now
University House), which received a
New Zealand Institute of Architects (NZIA) national award. Other significant projects that Salmond worked on that received NZIA national awards include the restoration of
Pompallier House (1995), the restoration of the
Civic Theatre in Auckland (with Jasmax, 2000), and the restoration of
Eichardt's Hotel in
Queenstown (with Michael Wyatt Architects, 2002). ==Honours and awards==