Michael Tower Architects has transformed an industrial loft in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, into a serene and earthy Japanese-inspired cafe and studio for tea importers Kettl.

The multi-use space houses a public cafe as well as backroom operations for the company, a ceramics studio and doubles as a gallery for ceramics.

Tower drew on ceremonial tea structures for his minimalist design, reimagining them through a contemporary material palette including maple, glass and 14-ft-long concrete bar at the rear of the cafe that was cast in situ, and has a cut-out to hold a kettle – the focus of a tea ceremony.

Floating wooden shelves and cupboards skirt the perimeter of the space, serving as displays for ceramics. Kettl’s deliberately understated design seeks to pare-back visual clutter while anchoring the space in earthy materials.

[Via ArchDaily]

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