Tea Houses are usually small, simple wooden buildings, located in the gardens or grounds of private homes or on grounds of temples, museums, and parks. Instead of designing a closed wooden structure, Kengo Kuma – the renowned Japanese architect also designing a residential tower in Vancouver – used steel and glass to frame expansive views over Coal Harbour. Local Douglas Fir was used in place of traditional Japanese cedar. The shoji screens were covered in Japanese washi paper and the tatami mats were handmade in Japan.

Carefully detailed and thoughtfully crafted, the tea house is a modern interpretation of a traditional Japanese structure.