Tienda Taller de Té 2011 - Yemail Arquitectura

Project Details

Taller de Té Shop 2011

DESCRIPTION

Taller de Té (Tea Workshop) is a space for experimentation, production, and services centered around tea. Its program occupies the residual spaces of a 1940s house in a residential neighborhood of Bogotá, characterized by subtle ornamental details, a mixture of materials, and a distinctly domestic scale.

Una casa productiva… seguimos intentándolo

Our work has often been shaped by the possibility of activating a second life within an existing structure. In this sense, we have developed a series of interventions that could be understood as part of a broader effort to update systems of value around the preservation and productive reuse of the built heritage, increasingly threatened by Bogotá’s current wave of real estate development.

We wanted to ensure a continuous and organic coexistence between the house’s existing uses—residence and clothing store—and this new productive workshop. To achieve this, the garage was transformed into a room for experimentation and tea tasting; the interior courtyard was occupied by tables and a garden of native plants; and the former laundry area was converted into a greenhouse for the cultivation and domestication of aromatic plants.

Amplifying Atmospheres

The main space was equipped with an organizational system capable of supporting different levels of flexibility while intensifying its relationship with the program: the consumption, experimentation, and dissemination of tea culture. The perimeter is occupied by product storage, instruments, and work surfaces through a system of metal shelving and timber elements that gradually fold into a small two-level grandstand.

We also opened a new bay to strengthen the continuity between the interior and the courtyard through a folding door. Made of textured glass, this door, together with a ceiling-mounted structure that functions as a lamp, helps compensate for the limited natural light typical of a semi-basement.

For the floor finish, we recovered industrial waste from a timber flooring factory and used it to compose an artisanal pattern combining different species and formats.

Primitive Technologies

To recover and connect the three spaces, we built a floating structure that runs throughout the project, addressing specific needs such as rainwater collection, protection from the weather, and the incorporation of new services and lighting points without radically transforming the spatial structure of the house.

For the greenhouse, we implemented a rainwater collection and treatment system designed by Paissano , supplying water for washbasins and toilets. The roof geometry channels rainwater toward a system of storage tanks and filters, allowing visitors to understand the purification process. Germination trays for local aromatic plants were installed in the greenhouse for use in tea consumption and experimentation.

A Secret (and Lush) Garden

The original courtyard was transformed through a translucent roof that produces a changing repertoire of shadows and reflections while creating a microclimate suited both to outdoor occupation and to the growth of the native shrubs and plants used in the garden. On the ground, chromatic patterns were created using reclaimed hexagonal tiles from demolition sites, typical of buildings from this period.

Instructions for use

We designed a series of furniture pieces capable of adapting to the everyday variations that arise from fitting an intensive program into a small space. The furniture combines interpretations of the project’s pre-existing material systems with an artisanal, austere, and expressive approach to fabrication. The project therefore incorporates seedbed tables, bench-grandstands, mobile shelving systems, and folding doors. In little more than a year of use, the workshop has hosted workshops, lectures, embroidery courses, film screenings, and even a wedding.

DETAILS

Use

Shop

Area

125 m²

Location

Bogotá D. C. – Colombia

Meters above the sea level

2625

Average annual temperature

13.1 °C

Year

2011

Client

Laura Cahnspeyer – Taller de Té

Design and construction

Yemail Architecture (Oficina Informal)

Project team

Antonio Yemail + Juan Pablo Gaitán + Mauricio Chavez

Hydraulic design

Paissano (Jairo Villegas + Sarah Arboleda)

Interior landscaping

Victoria Natural (Daniel Bernal)

Graphic system

Taller Estándar (Juan David Diez)

Photo Credits

Santiago Pinyol + Mariana Murcia

Categories: 3.2 Product/Service, Production