Homework Studio from Taipei, Taiwan, creates interiors that evoke charming, hard-to-identify bygone eras: see, for example, School Homework Photography Studio and Revised Children’s House. Wolf Tea’s new location in Taipei’s historic Dadaocheng district is another standout. Located on the ground floor of a tiled, multi-storey building that dates back to the 1970s, the salon has a cool vibe lost in time.
The project is the work of homemaker Kuan Chun Cheng (aka Marko Jan) and staff designer Huang Zhongwei in collaboration with Wolf Tea owners David Yang and Arwen Hsiao. Arwen describes the results as “subtle yet timeless, embodying the richness and beauty of tea in the details.” We are inspired to borrow many details of these homes.
Images courtesy of Homework Studio (@homeworkdesign_) unless otherwise noted.
Above: Wolf Tea specializes in small batch, single origin Taiwanese tea. To open the store to the street and fill the interior with light, the designers introduced arched windows and bifold doors in the long-lasting space.
Above: The building’s original green tiles seem appropriate for a tea salon.
Above: “We wanted the intervention to sit naturally in the historical-present environment, but not intrusively,” says Marko Jan.
Above: Wolf Tea owners David and Arwen note on their website that “Taiwan’s mountainous region has some of the world’s most unique and rare teas and a deep tea culture.” They show “clean and very impressive leaves” and like to set it with antique furniture and lighting. Photo courtesy of Wolf Tea.
Above: Arwen and David chose a vintage weathered counter for the center of the space. The walls were restored and left open; the flooring is the original preserved terrazzo “reminiscent of light and heavy tea roasts,” says Marko. The wall cabinet is a French antique.
Above: Arwen, the director of product design, bought organic cotton at the nearby YongLe Market and sewed it into a pojag, a curtain that separates the shop from the office.
Above: Arwen grew up in Alishan, one of Taiwan’s most famous tea regions, and is the source of their offerings. Covered vessels, known as gaiwan, he notes are excellent vessels for brewing and sipping whole leaf tea. Theirs shows a smiling wolf diving on a tea leaf. Photo courtesy of Wolf Tea.
Above: Beneath a custom black metal window, Homework created a tea-making station: “a functional station that feels festive and appropriate for the tea-making tradition,” says Marko. Photo courtesy of Wolf Tea.
Above: Arwen and David came up with “the idea of a tea trolley with copper details: each shop has its own version.”
Above: Flower-shaped tea cups and tea flutes. Photo courtesy of Wolf Tea.
Above: Wolf Tea hastwo locations in Taipei and one in Kyoto. Other teas and accessories, including the Kungfu Gaiwan Tea Set, are available online. The store is located at 106 Liangzhou Street in the Dadaocheng District of Taipei.
Another home tea room:Taipei Tea House Built With “Sensitive Materials”
More design in Taiwan:
- At Home With Famous Architect/Designer Mao Shen Chiang
- Shu Shu House: A Serene Mountain Retreat in Jiufen
- Delicate Antique: Rustic Vintage Store in Taipei