Gold Interior Space and Exhibition Design · 2020
Reading Tea Teahouse
by Ling Zhou
- A' Design Award 2020 Gold Winner in Interior Space and Exhibition Design
- Awarded April 15, 2020
- CLIENT: Chongqing Zhou Decoration Design Co., Ltd.
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 15,605
- Verification code C2549B63EF · Verify this award
About Reading Tea Teahouse
Reading Tea is a teahouse interior covering 380 square meters in Chongqing. The design joins traditional Chinese materials with a modern spatial approach. Natural logs are divided into wood pieces 100 millimeters wide and 5 millimeters thick. These flexible pieces are bent into curved forms that keep the character of wood and create a new spatial shape. Wood walls and stainless steel walls of the same tone connect the areas. Natural stone is polished into an uneven surface that suits the wood. Gray tones and rustic floor tiles complete the calm setting.
Ling Zhou's Reading Tea Teahouse represents a remarkable achievement in contemporary hospitality architecture, synthesizing traditional tea culture's emphasis on contemplative atmosphere with bold formal innovation that transforms structural necessity into expressive sculptural presence. The work emerges from a lineage of organic architectural thinking that values the integration of natural materials with flowing geometries, yet distinguishes itself through the rigorous logic of its radial ceiling system, where individual timber elements fan outward in precise parallel curves that suggest both the protective embrace of natural canopies and the refined craftsmanship of vessel construction. The designer demonstrates exceptional command of material juxtaposition, setting the warmth and directional rhythm of the wooden ceiling against the grounded permanence of rough-hewn stone, creating a dialogue between lightness and weight, movement and stability, that enriches the spatial experience with palpable tension resolved through careful proportional relationships. The lighting strategy reveals sophisticated understanding of how illumination shapes perception of form, with carefully positioned downlights emphasizing the rhythmic striations of the timber while maintaining the intimate atmosphere appropriate to tea appreciation rituals. The tunnel-like passage visible at left introduces a threshold condition that may reference traditional architectural sequences of compression and release, guiding visitors through a transitional moment before emerging into the more generous main volume. This work invites consideration of how contemporary design might honor established cultural practices through spatial invention rather than stylistic imitation, creating environments that feel simultaneously fresh and timeless. The viewer might contemplate how the enveloping ceiling geometry affects their sense of shelter and belonging, and what associations the organic forms evoke within their own experience of natural and constructed worlds.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- Nowadays, most of the Chinese tea spaces are dominated by the traditional Chinese style. In order to break the fixed thinking, the designer uses the relationship between the wood wall and the stainless steel wall with the same tonality to connect the whole space, which seems to be independent but closely related to each other, so as to overlap the multiple levels of space and show the pure design details.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- The project covers a total of 380 square meters. In the entrance area, natural logs are used as the main materials. The designer divides the original logs into wood chips with a width of 100 mm and a thickness of 5 mm. The processed wood chips are flexible and can be bent and folded at will, which makes the design more possible.
- Tags
- Interior, Commercial, Tea House, Oriental Elements, Natural, Elegant, Cultural, Modern
- Production Technology
- The circular space form made of wood chips retains the characteristics of woodiness, but people also see the formation of new space form. The designer hopes to break the tradition and keep it at the same time, so as to achieve the symbiosis of culture and architecture. The natural stone is polished to form the uneven surface, which also makes the visual sense of stone and wood more perfect and harmonious.
- Design Challenge
- Under the premise of not replacing the original Chinese furniture, it is a big difficulty to renovate the shop in a modern way. Chinese window made of wood is our most common and traditional way, but in this space, the designer hopes that the traditional elements have changed, so the bronze stainless steel material instead of the traditional wood material, making Chinese window and style both Chinese direction and not too traditional.
- Project Duration
- The project started in June 2019 in Chongqing and finished in October 2019 in Chongqing.
- Operation Flow
- The spatial tone is made of gray, coupled with natural lying wood texture and rustic gray floor tiles, creating a simple fashion full of organic style, presenting a rustic and natural aesthetic point of view.
- Research
- The design purpose of this case is not simply to seek aesthetic changes. In addition to aesthetic feeling, we must also give consideration to practicality and durability, so that the space will last forever. For the designer, it is the most valuable thing to create a comfortable tea space and make users feel happy. He thinks that each material can present different forms of expression through design.
- Inspiration
- Party A hopes that the renovated space can retain the traditional Chinese elements, but does not want to see the traditional Chinese appearance. Therefore, the designer uses the spatial design method to create the state of the whole teahouse, and expresses to people that even the traditional Chinese materials can also have a different sense of design direction. He re sized the wood to create a new spatial framework, which is the highlight of the project.
- Image Credits
- Image #1: Photographer Chuan He, Entrance Area, 2019.
Image #2: Photographer Chuan He, Entrance Area 2, 2019.
Image #3: Photographer Chuan He, Reception Desk, 2019.
Image #4: Photographer Chuan He, Box, 2019.
Image #5: Photographer Chuan He, Box 2, 2019. - Patents
- Copyrights belong to Ling Zhou, 2019.
Colors of Reading Tea Teahouse
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