Tea Houses
I originally was inspired to create a building that would bridge the aesthetic of Japan and the British school of Mackintosh, as a place for tea and quiet contemplation.
The Morton Teahouse soon after contraction. Designed in collaboration with the artist/architect Jon Weallans, the building has a steel frame clad in the timber from a Cedar of Lebanon in the garden that needed to be felled. Western red cedar shingles instead thatch.
……..three years later, the teahouse melts into its surroundings of birch, bamboo and cherries, the laminated rice paper panels catching the eying light.
A circular window in a rectangular frame of burr walnut, designed to catch the evening light breaking through bamboo.
many of the precise detailing of hinges and latches were the inspiration of Max McColl, who built much the teahouse almost entirely in his workshop yard. When open, the central bars of the glass doors marry up to those of the side panels. When closed they reflect the oaks that shade the stroll garden.
The closer the bamboo to the rice paper panels, the sharper their shadows are brought into focus.
Lighting designed to emulate candle light, transforms the teahouse into a glowing lantern.
…glass and rice paper make a sublime playground for light.