March’s FRAME Awards winner, a decaying tea factory in Dalenzhen, China, was adaptively reused and incorporated into the new structure of Tea Story, pays homage to the entertainment venue’s roots and activates it for new life.

Lin Weiping Interior Design Consulting’s design of Tea Story secured the top spot as the FRAME Awards March winner. The Entertainment Venue (7.81) functions as a hotel, tearoom and tea culture exhibition area, with restaurants and a bar located on its 4,000-sq-m premises. The client, Da Lan Tea Story, originally sought to demolish and rebuild a former tea factory which occupied the site. Disruptions by the pandemic led the designer to reassess and preserve the original structure, incorporating it into the new facilities, serving as the basis of the project to connect to its origins. Local furniture and objects were sourced from nearby villages and towns to further ground the multi-use space to its location. Through the delivery of the project which delicately balances old and new, the design studio 'learned how to respect the original building and local materials, handcraft and culture,’ says Lin Weiping. ‘We learned how to be patient and take design seriously at every stage of the project.’

Learn more about the studio’s inspiration and the jury’s remarks by watching the full video below.