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O-office Architects has converted several buildings on a tea plantation near Guangzhou, China, into a cultural centre featuring a rooftop garden wrapped in bamboo screens.As part of the (Re)forming Duichuan Tea Yards project, local firm O-office Architects was tasked with revitalising three disused buildings at the plantation in the Gaoming District of Guangdong Province.
O-office Architects has converted three factory buildings into an exhibition space
The site in Duichuan Village was established as a tea plantation in the 1950s and comprises more than 300 acres of gently rolling hills dotted with small lakes.
O-office Architects was approached to help transform three factory buildings into an exhibition space in 2017, after the tea yard had been abandoned and fallen into disrepair when the demand for its tea declined at the start of the 21st century.
The buildings are decorated with bamboo screens. Photo is by Huang Chengqiang
The exhibition space is located at the heart of the reestablished production facility, which will soon begin harvesting its first new crop of Duichuan tea.
The renovated buildings now contain exhibits offering visitors a historic overview of Duichuan tea culture, alongside a fine-dining restaurant and the tea yard’s offices.
A new stone podium wrapping the buildings frames views of the landscape
The three 1980s edifices are situated on a small island in an artificial reservoir that also contains woodland, with low-rise former workers’ housing nestled amongst the trees.
Exposed concrete structures and narrow-framed steel windows were retained to evoke the buildings’ industrial heritage. The architects also sought to enhance the connection between the former production spaces and the surrounding plantation.
The complex is surrounded by several ponds and trees
“We tried to find a simple spatial prototype for the reconstruction of the site to load the envisioned cultural settlement,” said the architects in a project statement.
“The design gradually approached a concept of the mixture of ‘pavilion’ and ‘podium’,” the studio added. “We tried to evolve the prototype of the ‘pavilion’ into a settlement that encompasses production and detour.”
Roof gardens are connected by bridges
To house the main cultural and public spaces dedicated to the history of tea production, a new podium made from blocks of dark local granite was constructed around the base of the existing buildings.
This structure functions as a viewing platform and contains openings that redefine the relationship between indoor and outdoor spaces, lending the facility a more porous and welcoming character.
The podium is composed of blocks of dark local granite
New roof gardens on top of the three factory buildings are connected by bridges so visitors can traverse the site whilst taking in aerial views of the plantation.
The garden courtyards are lined with bamboo screens that also extend onto staircases at the corners of the buildings. The stairs connect the rooftop with the stone viewing platform, creating a route that leads visitors all the way around and over the site.
The factories’ original concrete structures are exposed inside
“This connection creates a vertical yet horizontal promenade that wraps around the original production space,” the architects pointed out.
“We hope this tour can evoke a sense of ‘in search of a lost time’ [whilst] at the same time acting as a response against the rapid industrialisation of modern urban and rural areas.”
O-office Architects reinterprets traditional Chinese courtyard house in concrete and steel
The blending of the industrial buildings with the plantation is enhanced by landscaping that includes several ponds and trees that reach through apertures in the stone podium.
The new podium contains public spaces
O-office Architects was established by He Jianxiang and Jiang Ying in Guangzhou in 2007. The firm works on projects across various scales, from urban design and architecture to the exhibition and furniture design.
Several of O-office Architects’ projects focus on renovation and conserving the architectural history of the Pearl River Delta. It previously worked on a residence inspired by vernacular courtyard houses found in the region.
Photography is by Zhang Chao unless stated.
Project credits:
Architect: O-office ArchitectsClient: Midea GroupDesign team: He Jianxiang, Jiang Ying, Dong Jingyu, Huang Chengqiang, Zhang Wanyi, Cai Lehuan, Wu Yifei, He Zhenzhong, He Wenkang and Peng WeisenStructural consultant: Situ Ying, Luo Qiyao and Luo JiajieM.E. consultant: Bun Cong M&E DesignV.I. Design: TheWhy art x design
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The TV show Mad Men informed the retro feel of this bar in Guangzhou, China, which designer Vinki Li has finished with wood-panelled walls, marble floors and plush mid-century furniture.Vinki Li – who is based in Hong Kong – had been told to make the interiors of Out Of Office unlike any other bar in Guangzhou, so she looked to foreign films and television shows for aesthetic inspiration.
Her main point of reference ended up being Mad Men – a TV series which follows the life and times of Don Draper, a creative director working at an advertising agency on New York’s Madison Avenue during the 1960s.
The bar is entered via a lobby that looks like a secretary’s office
Not only is Li a fan of the show, but she liked that its 1960s setting would give her the opportunity to showcase mid-century furnishings inside Out Of Office.
“I have always been a big fan of mid-century architecture and designs, I considered it very timeless, well-designed…it still feels fresh today,” she told Dezeen.
A typewriter and old-school telephone top the desk in the lobby
Li named the bar after season one, episode 13 of Mad Men, in which protagonist Draper leaves the office for the evening and remaining staff members throw a revelrous, alcohol-fuelled party in anticipation of presidential election results.
“I wanted to create a similar atmosphere when guests come to unwind after working during the day, a feeling of the boss not being here,” added Li.
The main bar features wood-lined walls and marble floors
Guests enter Out Of Office via a grey tiled lobby that’s been styled to resemble a secretary’s office, complete with shuttered window blinds.
At the centre of the space is a glass-topped desk scattered with paraphernalia that would have appeared in workplaces of the 1960s, such as a typewriter and a rotary dial telephone.
The desk backs onto a tall shelving unit featuring artsy ornaments, leather-bound books and a globe. In the corner of the lobby there’s also a coat rack, off which a suit jacket, tie and fedora hat have been hung.
Vintage advertisements have been mounted on the walls
A door leads through to the main bar, where Li has used a palette of rich, dark materials that she felt evoked the “machismo of executive boardrooms”.
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While the floor boasts a mix of murky-green Kesariyaji marble and white Statuario marble, walls have been lined with cherry wood.
Vintage advertisements have been mounted as decoration.
High-gloss steel and velvet was used to make the drinks counter
The base of the drinks counter is crafted from high-gloss stainless steel and inlaid with strips of caramel-coloured velvet. In front runs a row of stool seats upholstered in chocolate-brown leather.
Alternatively, guests can choose to sit in one of the heavy mid-century armchairs that have been placed at the centre of the bar.
Seating has been arranged in desk-style set ups
Extra clusters of seating run down the side of the room and are hidden by walnut and brass partitions – much like how desk cubicles were screened-off in 1960s offices.
A select few are able to enjoy their drinks in Out Of Office’s VIP room. It boasts deep-red sofas and a gridded cabinet that displays special whiskies inside illuminated box shelves.
Out Of Office includes a VIP room for select guests
The world of television and film offers a wealth of inspiration to designers and architects.
Earlier this year, Spanish studio Masquespacio created a co-working space in Valencia that draws on a scene from the 1960s film Playtime. British architect Adam Richards also modelled the layout of his home in Petworth, England around the story of post-apocalyptic flick Stalker.
Photography is by Hoshing Mok.
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