Watermoon Tea House
WATERMOON TEA HOUSE
Behet Bondzio Lin Architekten
CATEGORY
Installations & Structures, Houses
LOCATION
Changhua City, Taiwan
ARCHITECTS
Behet Bondzio Lin Architekten
MANUFACTURERS
Carl Hansen And Son, Catellani & Smith, Toto
LANDSCAPE DESIGN
Behet Bondzio Lin Architekten
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Hui Yin Ko
ELECTRICAL & PLUMBING ENGINEERING
Hongcheng Hydropower Engineering Company
The client’s main request was to have a tea pavilion located on Watermoon Mountain that does not require artificial air conditioning systems to achieve thermal comfort in the space.
But due to its location on top of this hill, the building is completely exposed to the sun from the south and the strong winds coming from the northeast.
The design uses two staggered, south-facing curved concrete plates that help to control the airflow and introduce a pleasant southern wind into the space.
The vertical dislocation between the two curved plates and the horizontal concrete plate that canopies the front platform allows solar radiation into the space washing over the tea table’s surface during the colder season.
The triangular-shaped Burmese Teak wood lattice located on the north facade blocks the strong unpleasant winds coming from the northeast.
The pivoting doors also made of Burmese Teak wood are located on the perimeter of the plan allowing for better control of the light and direct airflow into the main lounge space.
The pavilion stands as an island in the middle of an oval-shaped water pond elevated 60cm over the water level on the east side and 30 cm on the west side.
The level changes on the pond allow for a natural water flow and help improve the space comfort, increasing the relative humidity in the air that flows into the space during the hot season.
