tea house & garden sanctuary

 

set in rural china, on the edge of the village, the site is grounded by tea fields to the east, the river to the south, and houses to the north. the garden mediates between the surrounding elements of stone, fields, and river, and these different forces are filtered, framed and contained through landscaping and waterscaping features. 

 

the site is populated with multiple pathways and stopping points with no hierarchy, instead emphasis on choice and exploration.  switchbacks, s-forms, and winding pathways slow down both people and water as they move through the spaces.  the different forms of water - spring, pond, river, and rain are celebrated and juxtaposed with one another for one to contemplate while enjoying the tea made possible by these flows. 

 

the teahouse allows the water used to prepare the tea flow through the structure itself.  a butterfly roof which allws rain to collect in the interior courtyard joins the channel of spring water which overflows from the stone basin at the edge of the building it is brought up into, and the extra tea that overflows the teacups.  a window at the end frames this channel as it runs through the landscape out to the river.