If you think tea-houses are just retro places for aged people, get ready to change your mind. Today's featured project reinterprets the tea-house concept in a contemporary design way: its name is Rabbit Hole, located in Sidney and designed by Matt Woods Design. The project's starting point was the former industrial sites inherent architecture. Concrete floors were polished; herringbone strutted timber ceilings unearthed; original brick walls revealed. The softening of this masculine architecture was then achieved through the white washing of the newly exposed elements, and through the addition of enlarged northeast facing windows, which allow light to flood in to the interior.

The decoration core is the Japanese art of Kintsugi (which means to join with gold, and is a celebration of the beauty of imperfection in ceramic objects), as proved by the custom designed bowls in the “Specialty Tea Display” as well as the crushed ceramic tile featured on the service-dominated areas of the café. The elements feature a strong conceptual side, yet a humble design in terms of form, to stress the power of their meaning in a refined immediate way. Each piece of furniture is the result of an accurate manufacturing: reclaimed oak timbers create banquette seats & table frames, which are wire brushed, gently oiled and express dowel joined as to reinforce the quality of the design. A combination of leathers & upholstery fabrics create seat cushions and brass buckled back rests. Century old French oak floor joists are used to create the service counter, while a shark nosed granite top sits effortlessly in the room as a group dining table. Other tables are less ostentatious, and are constructed in timber & fiber cement. The entrance is enhanced by a steel frame, and delineated by a playful custom designed pivoting window system. As the bar only serves organic tea, the keyword of this interior design project is sustainability: all timbers are either FSC certified or recycled; all paint finishes are VOC free; lighting is energy efficient or LED; every material has been assessed for it’s embodied water & energy content. Further to this the project aims to eliminate the need for AC, & looks to take advantage of the natural & passive cross ventilation opportunities on offer.

INFO: www.killingmattwoods.com

PHOTO COURTESY: Dave Wheeler