Summersea
Sutira Laokittiphanit
Tea House
The client is a multi-generational family household with a Thai and Chinese heritage. The Father is Thai while the Mother is Chinese. They fall in love and decided to open the business together. Since they want to combined both of their culture, they decided to open a teahouse which served Chinese tea, and Thai tradi tional dessert.The second generation is their son and daughter, they planned to takeover the family business in the future and helps the buisness blooms even further. The third generation is the son and daughter own’s family. The son and the daughter each has two children, they are all close and live as a one big family.
-
Other than the sitting area, there is a showroom showing a collection of products, collections of teapots and plates
-
customers will be able to book a special tea blending workshop and/or tea-Thai dessert pairing taste
-
These activities will combine family and the customers and make the customers feel more intimate with the teahouse
-
The family will also walk around in the lounge and talk to the customers, while the customers that are using the other zones will not be disturbed
-
The shop area provides atriums and corridors so that the people can connect better:
-
People can socialize. There is also live music playing in the tea showroom, the sound of the music will go through the atrium and the sitting area, so people can have their utmost relaxation.
-
The house space of the shophouse also provides a lot of atriums and corridors in the co-living space so that family members can connect better: like children in the living room will be able to hear sounds of grandma cooking,
The concept is to bring out the identity of both the cultures while also keeping the place very open. Also to have a green space within the shophouse to create a peaceful little getaway from the city
​
-
Materials used to create the calmness of the tea house. The color of the shophouse is inspired by the colors of tea, which is the product of the family business.
-
Some facades/ partitions have patterns inspired by a Thai traditional dessert--Jah Monghut, which is another main product of the business. The subtleness of it can also show the delicacy of the dessert.
-
The boldness of the geometries attracts attention and creates a welcoming entrance to people walking by, distinguishing the building from the surrounding shophouses. While also distracting attention from the residents in the back of the gateway to save their privacy
-
Using a lot of circles as it is the divine shape in Chinese belief
-
For the folding facade, Experiment with abstract forms from the concept to make the form of the building more sculptural
-
There are different zones in the teahouse for customers to choose from based on what they come here for a socializing space, a place a little more private but is still open a quiet space for relaxing or working, and a private reserved meeting tearoom
-
The residence area and the teahouse are separated, and access is prohibited within the circulation, for the privacy of the family.
