Tryngoal Tea House

This modern sheet metal-sided two-story wooden house in the remote lush green hills around Ali Mountain in central Taiwan, features a quaint 1st floor combination tea bar & reception area and a 2nd floor traditional tea ceremony space featuring a Japanese-style raised floor and tea preparation area with sweeping views of the surrounding hills and valleys. The indoor spaces used repurposed wood from the family’s nearby multigenerational house, integrating the family spirit into this modern space.

The client, a second-generation tea farmer, drew inspiration for this project from the Japanese drama Yasashii, featuring a remote coffee shop. The tin house echoes the theme built high in the tea producing Ali mountain range. Carrying on family traditions and family spirit inspired the clients to salvage and repurpose timber from the old family home stamped with the grandfather’s name. Integrating the old with the new led to refashioning beams into cabinetry, doors, and tea ceremony table.

The main challenges are the elevation at 2200m, rapidly changing weather, and the remoteness of the location. Construction was extended by 4 times the original plan due to delays caused by the rapidly changing mountain weather. The two-hour drive up windy mountain roads with no restaurants or other amenities created a logistical issue in providing food for the guests. Another challenge was incorporating original wood from the old family home.

Guests are welcomed with the calming outdoor window bar and deck opening into the reception downstairs tea bar area. The object is to bring guests into nature and taste the teas of the client. Accommodating for a variety of seating positions, the upstairs tea ceremony space is focused first on the sampling of teas and the views and scenery enhancing that experience. Bamboo, semi-transparent vertical curtain rolls allow for the transformation from the tasting to taking in of view.