Nepal's Mountainside Teahouses Elevate the Experience for Trekkers

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/nepal-mountainside-teahouses-elevate-experience-trekkers-heading-to-top-world-180987844/

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Norm Architects conceives Xiamen's Basao tea parlour as an oasis of calm

Danish practice Norm Architects has created an understated interior for the Basao teahouse in Xiamen that was designed to offer a "clear antidote" to the hustle and bustle of the Chinese port city.

Basao takes its name from Baisao, a Japanese monk who lived during the Edo period and spent the latter part of his life wandering around Kyoto and selling tea.

The Basao tea lounge is arranged around a Chinese stone counter

His Zen Buddhist writings were a key reference point for Norm Architects in the design for the "tea lounge", which is meant to evoke a sense of tranquillity.

"With room for quiet contemplation, the space is a clear antidote to our fast-paced on-the-go culture, instead immersing its visitors in the calming sounds of tea being prepared, poured and enjoyed," the studio said.

Seating around the counter provides views of the brewing process

At the heart of the store is a chunky counter crafted from speckled Chinese stone that is positioned beneath a coffered oak ceiling.

Here, customers can order drinks and observe them being prepared from a couple of high stools.

A wider variety of seating is assembled on one side of the room, incorporating different tactilities and shapes from suede poufs to wooden benches and a long banquette upholstered in chestnut-brown leather.

More seating lies at the room's periphery

"Carefully considering the sense of touch, the experience of the space becomes an interplay of textures and temperatures in combination with contrasting polished and raw surfaces," Norm Architects explained.

To the other side of the lounge is a retail space, where Basao merchandise is showcased on black steel shelves.

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More products can be presented on slim metal ledges and pivoting displays built into the tea parlour's oak-panelled walls.

Oakwood also covers the building's facade, which was modified so that its walls are sloped invitingly towards the entrance.

Black steel shelves display Basao's products in the retail space

The facade is punctuated by huge windows that can be pushed up concertina-style to let fresh air and natural light into the interior.

Alternatively, customers have the option of sitting outdoors on the terrace, which is decorated with a number of leafy plants.

A large window allows the tea parlour's interior to be opened up to the outdoors

Basao is Norm Architects' first project in China.

The Copenhagen-based practise has recently completed a number of interiors in its hometown including Notabene, a shoe store with warm industrial interiors, and a bookstore that takes design cues from old-school libraries.

The photography is byJonathan Leijonhufvud.

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Yatofu uses "honest" materials to revamp Teemaa teahouse in Helsinki

Design studio Yatofu has refined the interiors of a teahouse in downtown Helsinki with elements of brick, oak and oxidised steel.

The Teemaa cafe, which serves traditional Chinese and Japanese teas without artificial additives, was renovated to reflect both the craft of the brewing process as well as the raw tactile quality of the tea leaves themselves.

Teas are displayed in Teemaa's retail space on shelves made of oxidised steel and oak

"A grounded palette of honest and textural materials was extracted from those used in the process of tea making," explained Yatofu.

"These were reinterpreted into a contemporary space through the use of modern forms, with a focus on handmade qualities to create a visual dialogue that speaks to the markings of time and craftsmanship."

Oakwood was also used to make furnishings in the teahouse's seating area

Visitors enter the teahouse via a retail area, where packaged teas are displayed on oxidised steel shelves suspended between live edge columns of oakwood.

Thick-cut blocks of oak also form the counter at the centre of the room, supported by a base made from grooved bricks.

On the other side of the teahouse is a light-filled seating area where visitors can relax with their hot drinks.

Panels of oxidised steel form display shelving

Oak was used here again to craft a series of chairs, stools and tabletops, as well as a long bench seat.

Oxidised steel ledges set within a shallow wall niche showcase a selection of contemporary magazines for teatime reading.

A textured brick wall can be seen in Teemaa's tasting room

A gauzy white curtain screens off a tasting area towards the back of the room, where visitors can sample some of the brand's most unique tea flavours and learn about the art of tea making.

The space is anchored by a weathered wooden table, above which hangs a bulbous paper lantern.

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A textured feature wall is clad half in traditional flat bricks and half in the same grooved bricks that were used beneath the table in the retail area.

To cut back on waste, Yatofu calculated early on how many bricks would be required for these elements and sent any offcuts to be recycled.

The teahouse also has a small kitchen where drinks are made

Teemaa's final room accommodates a putty-coloured kitchen suite where drinks are prepared, while various paraphernalia including teapots and ornate Japanese-style teacups is presented on the surrounding walls.

All of the room's walls are rendered in beige plaster save for one corner, where a sliver of the building's time-worn structural shell has been left exposed.

Tea-making paraphernalia is showcased on the walls

Last year, Yatofu founders Yihan Xiang and Angela Lindahl designed a mixed-use post office for the Chinese city of Ningbo.

The project was named small retail interior of the year at the 2021 Dezeen Awards, with judges praising it for being "playful, engaging and beautifully done".

_The photography is by Aleksi Tikkala. _

Project credits:

Video: Mark Vicuña
Set design and styling: Piia Emilia

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