DA YIN HANG Tea Space

When it comes to tea rooms, popular imagination conjures up large cabinets, generously-sized display cases, long solid wood tables and traditional Chinese signs clearly visible on the walls, tables and floors.
Da Yin Hang redefines this space, waiving the more commercial elements in favour of a simple and understated style, mirroring the soul which has so much more to say.
The name “Da Yin Hang” in fact originates from the Chinese poem “Da Yin Bu Wang Shi”, a tribute to healthy detachment from the material things of reality, an invitation to low-profile living which keeps the world at a safe distance, while participating in certain social dynamics. Consequently, this tea room built on two floors in Shanghai reflects the heart of an experiential attitude in its moderate design.

Designed on two levels – the ground floor, for tea drinking and product display and the first floor for private use – the space is primarily defined by an impressive five metre-long table which literally crosses indoor boundaries.

Contrary to the common use of wood, the table top is entirely clad with the Laminam I Naturali surface in the impactful Pietra di Savoia Antracite colour.
As an ambassador for a tactile and visual experience reminiscent of hand-worked stone, Pietra di Savoia Antracite is perfect for a more modern and fresh concept of traditional tea tables, as well as being ideal for use as a countertop owing to its resistance characteristics – to heat, to scratches, to the appearance of mould and mildew – and its easy cleaning.
In keeping with the soul-to-world dichotomy mentioned above, the table in Laminam, which incorporates a fountain whose jet ends up in the pool at the entrance, extends to the outside, through the window, almost as if the latter did not exist. It is a veritable invitation to enter, a dialogue between the inside and the outside which the entire Da Yin Hang embraces and voices. Indeed, the table that stretches outside to the road is met with a genuine green flowerbed that characterises a corner of the interior setting: the ”Me” and the “Them” that speak to one another, each one contaminating the other.

To achieve a coordinated image, Pietra di Savoia Antracite has also been used to clad the internal flooring of the tea room, creating chromatic and visual continuity interrupted solely by aqua green glass details, chosen as light points.

This particular shade of green which distinguishes the table base, the display shelves and the staircase was chosen for its potent evocative power. In addition to recalling the famous painting Qian Li Jiang Shan Tu (also known as “A Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains”), by the young Wang Meng Xi at the tender age of 18 which immediately became a masterpiece of traditional Chinese culture, this colour brings to mind the variations in colour of the waters of Lake BingDao, one of the most popular attractions in the hometown of tea.

Laminam natural surfaces also clad the vertical walls of the tea room. These are distinguished by the Calce collection in Nero shade, one of the strongest colours in the range, inspired by the simplicity of a freshly-painted wall.
The design of Da Yin Hang utilises it both for its exterior façade as well as the internal cladding owing to its very stylish appearance, which is easily adaptable to different colour combinations. It is a versatile colour that clears the field for the most varied stylistic and design requirements.
For its application to the façade, Calce – like all Laminam collections – delivers superior technical performance levels, such as the maintenance of the original surface characteristics even in the event of exposure to high temperatures, frost and UV rays.