Shine Town Tea Pavilion is located in Shanghai Xintiandi and was designed by atelier TUO. Through spatial layout, construction, and material choices, the project responds to the brand’s positioning defined by the tension between tradition and modernity, emotion and reason, and the raw and the refined.
The site stretches along the street with a generous frontage but limited ceiling height, complicated further by dense mechanical systems. Inside, the column layout varies and the structure is mixed, resulting in an irregular floor plan. These conditions reflect layers accumulated through the site’s long-term use and form the realities to which the design directly responds.
Rather than concealing this complexity, the design strategy treats the irregular column grid as the basis for spatial organization. Three primary structural axes are identified within the site: the street-facing entrance axis, the axis defined by the entrance-side wall, and the axis formed by the internal round columns. Based on these axes, the space is organized into the entrance area, the gold-leaf area, and the bar area.
Spatial experience unfolds from exterior to interior in three layers, forming a circular circulation loop centered on the bar. The originally large and shallow interior is thus reconfigured into a series of smaller spaces with varied scales and clear order, accommodating different tea-drinking needs while retaining the site’s complexity.
The bar area is located at the deepest part of the plan. Conceived as a black spatial “background,” it accommodates the brand’s diverse range of products, allowing the act of preparation and serving to become the visual and functional focus. This restrained setting reflects the brand’s rational and professional dimension.
The gold-leaf area serves as the visual core of the tea pavilion. One corner of the space faces toward the street, establishing a direct and dynamic interaction with the urban context. In response to the limited ceiling height, the ceiling shifts from a horizontal to a vertical arrangement, enhancing the sense of space while clearly defining the boundary between inside and outside. Brick-patterned low walls and bamboo screens work as soft dividers, allowing more open interaction between the tea pavilion and its surroundings.
The entrance area adopts a character distinct from the gold-leaf area, leaning closer to an outdoor condition and forming an open and flexible zone. Stacked-brick seating, floral-shaped display racks, and a ramie-fabric ceiling together define six groups of loose seating arranged along both sides of the site. The storefront is framed by eight untreated reclaimed timber columns, outlining the entrance while integrating essential functional elements—such as air vents, menu boards, dog tie rings, and umbrella holders—through metal components.
Material selection and application revolve around the brand’s positioning of “juxtaposed contrasts,” with different emphases across individual spaces.
Bar Area: A restrained black palette using carbonized wood, Tonglu granite, and dark oxidized mirrors, with polished stainless steel used selectively for details.
Gold-Leaf Area: Defined by a gold-leaf ceiling, green bamboo screens, timber low walls, and reclaimed wood flooring. Reclaimed wood is widely used, keeping its aged texture while combining gold leaf with glossy wood veneer to highlight material contrasts.
Entrance Area: Built with untreated solid timber columns, plaza bricks, cobblestones, exposed-aggregate finish, and ramie fabric, reinforcing a material expression closer to an outdoor setting.
