This 80-Seat Teahouse Wows in Hong Kong

2023 Best of Year Winner for Small Casual Dining

Zia, an 80-seat teahouse, reflects its location in the Hong Kong Palace Museum, which exhibits artifacts from Beijing’s Forbidden City. CL3 Architects Limited’s thoughtful and contemporary concept takes inspiration from the 18th-century emperor Qianlong’s tours to southern China, imagining a village where the entourage might have stopped overnight. Traditional wooden roof structures, a blue-painted ceiling, and a suspended circle evoke a moonlit landscape for the nearly 2,000-square-foot space. On the walls hang reproductions of a Qing Dynasty scroll and green ceramic tiles UV-printed with text describing the emperor’s journey. The subtle palette is based on mineral colors used in Chinese ink paintings.

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2025 WINNERS

a seating area with a ceiling installation

a triangular ceiling installation in the teahouse

PROJECT TEAM

william lim; jeffrey chen; nirut benjabanpot.

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