Jeju Island Tea House

As a buffer to the House, the clients had purchased the adjacent site to the West, so as to expand the gardens and also to build somewhere that guests could be received without disturbing the privacy of the Family and the House.

The House already had an “annex”- the caretaker’s house - which is perfectly integrated within the overall volumes, materials, and functionality.

 Nor, could it be something inferior, at the end of the garden, less well built and, typically, lacking in aesthetic concern. The Client’s demands, like our own, are always high.

Being curious, as ever, about traditional architecture, in this case, Korean traditional architecture, we gathered information and visited the best examples, especially the local ones on the island of Jeju. These are masterful works. Especially the ones in timber.

The location needed to be at the highest point on the site, from where one could marvel at the sea and the horizon. The rest would be a landscaped garden. With the building located at the center of the new site, we had to give it connections that could be quickly and easily perceived.

So, we came to realize that the classification Tea House is somewhat broader than its title. A bedroom for rest, but also somewhere a visitor could stay overnight with every comfort. A bathroom, for the typical Korean use, might be full or partial.

And it’s the same in the bathroom. Creating a game of, almost, infinite possibilities, allowing spaces to transform and to change when different activities are happening. Outside, there is a generous covered veranda facing South and a large terrace, facing East.

So, we proposed a scheme to get the construction work carried out in a workshop in Portugal and then to ship out all the pre-fabricated components to be assembled in situ. Our proposition was immediately accepted and we had a new challenge.

We had gotten used to the fact that designing and building in Korea is easy, and moreover satisfying, as in Korea the will to do things well is deep-rooted. Now it had become possible to have the timber work manufactured near my office and my home.

Although the language may seem to be an obstacle, in fact, the construction works, concrete, and services installations proceeded without problems; the project documents were all correctly interpreted and followed. When the timber arrived, it was a case of erecting it in the synchronized pattern of the pre-fabrication plan, where the language is consensual and understood by everyone.

The connections to the House, on foot, also needed to be something natural, as if they had always existed. There’s a service connection at the upper level and another route which, from the entry point to the House, allows for a stroll in the garden, or, for access to the Tea House. A “door” makes the connection between the House and the Tea House.