opposed to private Japanese tea houses, is
fully glazed for transparency and lightness,
“to give you the sort of uplifting flying
canopy, that at the same time sits
harmoniously with the design because
it is transparent.”
Horizontal mullions were however
introduced within the glazing to give
visitors a bit more intimacy and privacy
when siting inside the coffee house.
“It’s a very fluid, futuristic looking
design,” adds the architect, “but with very
traditional architectural features.”Materiality & structure
Structurally, the building has six columns
and a box frame, with which the practice
worked alongside Arup to achieve.
Another party acting in the project was
manufacturers of the roof, mouldCAM –
which has proved to be the most
recognisable feature of the design.
“We wanted to create a brass or copper
effect here – heritage materials that are a
customary theme in architecture,” Jonathan
details. “We tried to bring that element of
nobility to the site, alongside an earthy
materiality – we were very conscious that
we didn’t want to do a gleaming polished
church; we wanted it to feel like it’s beenexisting on the site for a while.”
The practice looked at patinating
brass on the roof to remove the ‘gleaming’
factor, and also to see the human element
of hand finishing the whole 100 m^2 roof.
Eventually, the team decided on the final
design which, while appearing to be solid
brass from the outside, is actually
constructed of glass reinforced plastic
(GRP), but hand painted with a gel formed
of 75 per cent brass dust to give it the
desired effect, and retain a human touch.
The construction of this roof is a feat of
engineering in its own, with not a single bit
of steel or rafters necessary to hold it up.
“The structure is fully inherent of its
shape,” the architect explains. “The dome
takes on the compression forces and leads
it to the two columns at the front, and the
rear has two reverse arches which sit upon
the two columns at the back.”
The shape of the building itself helps
provide structural strength, with the carbon
and glass fibre providing extra support and
tying the building together in a bespoke
shape which defines the design.
“I think that is what’s so liberating
as a designer currently – you can really
create very free forms of expression
through computer-aided design, and then50PROJECT REPORT: HOTELS, RESTAURANTS & BARSWWW.ARCHITECTSDATAFILE.CO.UK ADF NOVEMBER 2019
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