Zhang Mingxue TEA-Z_on BuildMost

The fragrance of tea is subtle, but people can easily get soaked upin it and feel refreshed from mind to body. How to apply such a quality to aspace and allow its visitors to have a piece of tranquility unknowingly.

This is the question posed by the owner and to be answered by SteveGao, thechiefdesigner. As a practitioner of space emotions, Gao believes that the ideal teaspace for young people should be open, free and easy, and possess an aestheticand contemporary touch. As Gao puts it, the best possible way to present anideal Chinese tearoom is to create a modern space and infuse it with easternvibes.

The complex in which TEA-Z sits never lacks trendy elements, theissue the designer has to deal with is allowing tea drinkers to have some quietand relaxing time at TEA-Z without feeling they are out of style.

The truth is the younger generation in China are finding their ownlikes with great confidence when it comes to the pursuit of aesthetics and thequality of life rather than blindly chasing the fuss and mimicking.The renaissance of an elegant eastern lifestyle and the tea culturebecomes an expected new trend. The Chinese have enjoyed a long history ofdrinking tea, but the way of doing it requires some new thoughts to match thelifestyle these days.

The space is divided into four parts, including a front lobby for havinga taste of the tea, a bar counter, a storage room and a display area for purchasing.

The storage room, apart from its basic function, is used to narrow the space inthe middle part of the room, giving the customers a differentiated view as theywalk through the tea house.

Instead of the traditional way to decorate a tea house, an installationof multiple strips hand weaved in bamboo is used to cover the roof and to furtherextend to part of the walls.

The design was inspired by the fluid movement of afisherman who is casting the net.The color of the bamboo strikes a perfect balance with the black,white and grey in the space, which are the colors often used in traditionalChinese brush painting.

Friendly soft lightings are used in the house to avoid theaggressiveness of harsh lights and they are designed separately for differentareas. The lamps that resemble a drop of water are covered in mercury coatingsso that people do not get glaring stares even when they look the lamps directly,and they are like raindrops falling into the space.

The design creates a specific emotion for the space through the useof colors, materials, lightings and sounds, it is a philosophy that Gao hasbeen practicing along the way. The color combination, the soft lightings andthe fluidity in the space brings a unique temperament to TEA-Z that isunconstrained, quiet, unhurried and open.This is what the owner has hoped for this new type of tea house andfor how the visitors feel when they walk into the shop.

Gao also has the habit of drinking tea while he is working or at hisleisure time. “I drink coffee, but tea is my all-day drink, “Gao said. “Forthose who do not like tea, it is probably because they have yet found the tea forthem. Once they found it, it will last.” Unlike coffee and milk tea, whichoften lead to over stimulation and excessiveness in taste, tea comes with alight but lasting flavor.