Cha Le Tea Merchant provides a modernist interpretation to the traditional Chinese tea ritual “Cha dao”. The architecture creates a place to celebrate the ritual of tea-taking within a retail space, affording visitors the opportunity to learn about the tradition and culture behind this ancient ritual. The core of the tea ritual at Cha Le is centered around the latest advances in tea infusion technology, and the design of the space draws inspiration from traditional Chinese apothecaries, while creating a modern interpretation of a medicinal and spiritual place.

At Cha Le the senses are heightened by focusing on a single, humble material - birch plywood - that is transformed into a resonant and calming environment through a carefully considered and rigorous approach to detailing. The use of humble materials forged into precise linear forms conveys the project’s rationalist aesthetic while expressing a fresh interpretation of an ‘apothecary’ through the creation of a myriad of small shelving compartments. The creation of something beautiful with a humble material, is also a metaphor for the tea ritual itself – wherein simple organic ingredients are combined to create a sublime experience.

A single tectonic grid is used to organize all aspects of the space. The teahouse adopts a harmonic, subdued sense of lighting, delivering a softened light to the space and establishing a harmonic grid of voids that optically multiply the space.