bloomdesign's modern tea shop in china references traditional paintings

bloomdesign’s HEYTEA at xiamen paragon center embodies the concept of an urban ‘shanshui’, a term for traditional chinese paintings that depict natural landscapes with a brush and ink leaving subtle marks. li baolong, creative director of bloomdesign explains that ‘for each project, i don’t merely work to figure out the spatial planning, but more importantly, to create the beautiful world in my heart.’ with the same care and passion, the firm designed the urban, yet zen tea shop. the locale represents the contemporary-style tea brand, keeping it minimal but welcoming.

each HEYTEA store in china has a different design and appearance, but they are all designed around four key words – cool, inspiration, design, and zen – that constitute the brand’s concept. for this store, bloomdesign conceived the conpcet of ‘shanshui’ when approaching the project. the new aesthetics recall the natural depictions of the age-old chinese paintings.

the designers tried to find some connection between traditional tea-drinking culture and the impression of xiamen — featuring the sea and mountains. the result is a  contemporary expression of tea culture, and utilize youth-oriented design to convey the beauty of oriental art, which is a part of HEYTEA’s modern zen spirit. by extracting elements from the sea, sober mountains and tea and applying them to the interior design, bloomdesign created a ‘shanshui’ world.

the raw materiality of the wood and stones gives the space contrasting textures: smooth and rough, delicate and austere, soft and solid, warm and cool, thin and thick. all of them can be perceived by customers as they touch the surfaces in the space, hence providing varying and pleasant tactile experiences for them. the textures and color palette of the space are derived from the materials, which not only reference a natural landscape, but also the return to nature.

getting rid of complexity, bloomdesign didn’t introduce complicated and superfluous decorations into the space, yet let consumers enjoy the pure pleasure of drinking tea. the urban ‘shanshui’ is complemented by the green plants dotting the space and enable customers to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city.

project info:

design firm: bloomdesign

creative director: li baolong

chief designer: nan hongtian

design planning: chen xiaohu

design team: qiu wendi, liao wenjie, zhao yichuan, chen xiaosong

lighting design: ding jie

video installation: ct.lab

project location: xiamen, china

project area: 268 m2

completion time: may 20, 2019

photography: hu jingsen