Tea House
A small timber pavilion in a walled garden
Architecture, Landscape, Details
·
2016–2017
The tea house in the walled garden
About the project
A small pavilion for tea in an old walled garden, built with a Kyoto carpenter. It was our first project outside Europe, and it changed how we think about privacy and light.
Typology
Pavilion
Status
Completed 2017
Location
Kyoto, Japan
Client
Private
Size
18 m²
Site
Walled garden
Partner
Henrik Sørensen
Models of the pavilion
The tea room in afternoon light
The concept
A room you reach slowly
Guests reach the pavilion along a stepping-stone path that turns three times, so the tea house is never seen all at once. Each turn shows a different part of the garden.
Inside, a single paper screen faces the moss garden. Its light changes so slowly that guests notice the time passing only by the shadows on the floor.
The garden from the veranda
Material and light
Cedar, paper and clay
The frame is Japanese cedar, joined without nails by the carpenter who taught us how. Walls are clay plaster mixed with straw.
The door pulls and the small bronze lamp were made in our workshop and carried to Kyoto in a suitcase.
One day in the living room
Morning
07:00
Midday
12:00
Afternoon
16:30
Dusk
19:45
Night
22:00
Bedrooms and kitchens face east, so the day begins with low, cool light across the walls.
At noon the sun stands high in the south, and the deep roof keeps the living room bright without glare.
In the afternoon the light turns warm and low, reaching across the floor to the far wall.
At dusk the west windows hold the last colour of the sky while the room slowly falls quiet.
At night a few low lamps take over, and the windows turn into dark mirrors of the garden.
Credits
Architect
Clerestory
Partner in charge
Henrik Sørensen
Landscape
Anna Berg
Details
Elin Strand
Carpenter
Nakamura Komuten
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