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Toukoh-An 東籬庵

Private residence with integrated chashitsu

A full residential project in a quiet Meguro neighbourhood, designed around a formal chashitsu at its centre.

The sequence begins at the entrance: a two-tatami ante-room leads through a tatami corridor alongside an internal tea garden, arriving at the main tea room hall of eight tatami mats — one of the larger domestic chashitsu in the practice's portfolio. The private residence — living, dining, kitchen, and upper-floor bedrooms and bathrooms — is connected across the corridor, keeping the tea and living spaces distinct without separating them entirely.

The brief was to build a house in which a full chashitsu tradition could be practised, without sacrificing the requirements of a contemporary home.

LOCATION: Meguro, Tokyo
USE: Private
TOTAL FLOOR AREA: 141.58㎡

Toukoh-An 東籬庵

Private residence with integrated chashitsu

A full residential project in a quiet Meguro neighbourhood, designed around a formal chashitsu at its centre.

The sequence begins at the entrance: a two-tatami ante-room leads through a tatami corridor alongside an internal tea garden, arriving at the main tea room hall of eight tatami mats — one of the larger domestic chashitsu in the practice's portfolio. The private residence — living, dining, kitchen, and upper-floor bedrooms and bathrooms — is connected across the corridor, keeping the tea and living spaces distinct without separating them entirely.

The brief was to build a house in which a full chashitsu tradition could be practised, without sacrificing the requirements of a contemporary home.

LOCATION: Meguro, Tokyo
USE: Private
TOTAL FLOOR AREA: 141.58㎡

Hohjo-An 方丈庵

WAREHOUSE GALLERY CONVERSION

A compact chashitsu created within a vacant warehouse belonging to a gallery owner in Shinagawa.

The tea room is built around a three-tatami Kyoma layout with a corner hearth. A doma — a traditional compacted earth floor area — provides an informal seating space at a lower level. The mizuya was formed by removing a wall connecting the tea room to the existing kitchen, adapting it to a standing-height preparation area. Outside the tea room, a waiting area with a tsukubai is arranged in the open space of the warehouse.

Fittings and furnishings preserved from the owner's former home were reused throughout, giving a newly built space the atmosphere of one that has been lived in for years.

LOCATION: Shinagawa, Tokyo
USE: Commercial

Hohjo-An 方丈庵

WAREHOUSE GALLERY CONVERSION

A compact chashitsu created within a vacant warehouse belonging to a gallery owner in Shinagawa.

The tea room is built around a three-tatami Kyoma layout with a corner hearth. A doma — a traditional compacted earth floor area — provides an informal seating space at a lower level. The mizuya was formed by removing a wall connecting the tea room to the existing kitchen, adapting it to a standing-height preparation area. Outside the tea room, a waiting area with a tsukubai is arranged in the open space of the warehouse.

Fittings and furnishings preserved from the owner's former home were reused throughout, giving a newly built space the atmosphere of one that has been lived in for years.

LOCATION: Shinagawa, Tokyo
USE: Commercial

Toukoh-An 東籬庵

Private residence with integrated chashitsu

A full residential project in a quiet Meguro neighbourhood, designed around a formal chashitsu at its centre.

The sequence begins at the entrance: a two-tatami ante-room leads through a tatami corridor alongside an internal tea garden, arriving at the main tea room hall of eight tatami mats — one of the larger domestic chashitsu in the practice's portfolio. The private residence — living, dining, kitchen, and upper-floor bedrooms and bathrooms — is connected across the corridor, keeping the tea and living spaces distinct without separating them entirely.

The brief was to build a house in which a full chashitsu tradition could be practised, without sacrificing the requirements of a contemporary home.

LOCATION: Meguro, Tokyo
USE: Private
TOTAL FLOOR AREA: 141.58㎡

Toukoh-An 東籬庵

Private residence with integrated chashitsu

A full residential project in a quiet Meguro neighbourhood, designed around a formal chashitsu at its centre.

The sequence begins at the entrance: a two-tatami ante-room leads through a tatami corridor alongside an internal tea garden, arriving at the main tea room hall of eight tatami mats — one of the larger domestic chashitsu in the practice's portfolio. The private residence — living, dining, kitchen, and upper-floor bedrooms and bathrooms — is connected across the corridor, keeping the tea and living spaces distinct without separating them entirely.

The brief was to build a house in which a full chashitsu tradition could be practised, without sacrificing the requirements of a contemporary home.

LOCATION: Meguro, Tokyo
USE: Private
TOTAL FLOOR AREA: 141.58㎡

Kakyu-An 華久庵

Standalone teahouse

A three-tatami chashitsu with a full mizuya, designed as a standalone structure set apart from the main residence.

The layout is considered for flexibility: removing the sliding partitions between the tea room and mizuya opens a continuous space of approximately seven tatami mats, large enough for gatherings beyond the tea ceremony itself. The shoji screens open fully to the garden, allowing the tea room and the exterior to be used as one.

Construction combines hand-selected timber, chosen and worked by hand in the traditional manner, with modern methods of ensuring a solid structural foundation.

The garden was developed in close collaboration with a landscape architect, reusing the original stones, moss, and plum trees from the site to create a space that carries the history of what was already there

LOCATION: Minato-ku, Tokyo
USE: Private
TOTAL FLOOR AREA: 20.77㎡

Kakyu-An 華久庵

Standalone teahouse

A three-tatami chashitsu with a full mizuya, designed as a standalone structure set apart from the main residence.

The layout is considered for flexibility: removing the sliding partitions between the tea room and mizuya opens a continuous space of approximately seven tatami mats, large enough for gatherings beyond the tea ceremony itself. The shoji screens open fully to the garden, allowing the tea room and the exterior to be used as one.

Construction combines hand-selected timber, chosen and worked by hand in the traditional manner, with modern methods of ensuring a solid structural foundation.

The garden was developed in close collaboration with a landscape architect, reusing the original stones, moss, and plum trees from the site to create a space that carries the history of what was already there

LOCATION: Minato-ku, Tokyo
USE: Private
TOTAL FLOOR AREA: 20.77㎡

Chashitsu in Office

teahouse IN a corporate building

A chashitsu and meeting room built within a single floor of a high-rise office building — two interconnected spaces sharing a traditional thatched roof.

The tea room makes no concession to its setting. Despite being many floors above street level, the space achieves the atmosphere of a full traditional chashitsu — an unlikely but complete world within the fabric of a contemporary office building. The thatched roof, shared across both spaces, is the architectural gesture that makes this possible.

The project was conceived as a response to shifting ideas about how and where work happens — a space that brings a different quality of attention to the working day.

Chashitsu in Office

teahouse IN a corporate building

A chashitsu and meeting room built within a single floor of a high-rise office building — two interconnected spaces sharing a traditional thatched roof.

The tea room makes no concession to its setting. Despite being many floors above street level, the space achieves the atmosphere of a full traditional chashitsu — an unlikely but complete world within the fabric of a contemporary office building. The thatched roof, shared across both spaces, is the architectural gesture that makes this possible.

The project was conceived as a response to shifting ideas about how and where work happens — a space that brings a different quality of attention to the working day.

Tempura Arakawa
天ぷら あら川


Restaurant

Arakawa is a tempura restaurant with 45 years of history in Kita-ku, Tokyo. When the time came to move to a new space in Akabane, the owners wanted to carry that history with them.

The interior was built by the same craftsmen who construct chashitsu. Sugi pillars, solid oak counters, and a raised oval ceiling in gold leaf draw on the Edo-period aesthetic of the traditional Japanese room. Latticed rafters, sliding doors, and a tsukubai mark the entrance. Moveable partitions allow the dining room to be reconfigured by party size, with a private tatami room at the rear.

Materials from the original restaurant — floor pillars, garden stones, the signboard — were retained and reintegrated throughout.

LOCATION: Akabane, Tokyo
USE: Commercial

Tempura Arakawa
天ぷら あら川


Restaurant

Arakawa is a tempura restaurant with 45 years of history in Kita-ku, Tokyo. When the time came to move to a new space in Akabane, the owners wanted to carry that history with them.

The interior was built by the same craftsmen who construct chashitsu. Sugi pillars, solid oak counters, and a raised oval ceiling in gold leaf draw on the Edo-period aesthetic of the traditional Japanese room. Latticed rafters, sliding doors, and a tsukubai mark the entrance. Moveable partitions allow the dining room to be reconfigured by party size, with a private tatami room at the rear.

Materials from the original restaurant — floor pillars, garden stones, the signboard — were retained and reintegrated throughout.

LOCATION: Akabane, Tokyo
USE: Commercial

Matsubaya Saryo 松葉屋茶寮・方舟GALLERY

cafe/tea house

A single-tatami chashitsu built within a bonsai tea house and gallery, designed for one purpose: to sit with a bowl of matcha and the company of an ancient, magnificent bonsai.

The room contains everything a chashitsu requires, and nothing more. A tokonoma alcove, a tea shelf, a tatami seat and bench seating are arranged within a compact but complete space. The entrance is a sliding door designed in the manner of a nijiriguchi. The room is soundproofed to invite stillness.

LOCATION: Minami-Aoyama, Tokyo
USE: Commercial

Matsubaya Saryo 松葉屋茶寮・方舟GALLERY

cafe/tea house

A single-tatami chashitsu built within a bonsai tea house and gallery, designed for one purpose: to sit with a bowl of matcha and the company of an ancient, magnificent bonsai.

The room contains everything a chashitsu requires, and nothing more. A tokonoma alcove, a tea shelf, a tatami seat and bench seating are arranged within a compact but complete space. The entrance is a sliding door designed in the manner of a nijiriguchi. The room is soundproofed to invite stillness.

LOCATION: Minami-Aoyama, Tokyo
USE: Commercial

commercial
third space

For hotels, restaurants, galleries, spas, and cultural venues — a chashitsu as a destination in its own right. A space that slows guests down, sets you apart, and offers something no other interior can: a room that has been finetuned over centuries specifically to produce a particular quality of presence.

We work with architects, interior designers, and clients directly.

commercial
third space

For hotels, restaurants, galleries, spas, and cultural venues — a chashitsu as a destination in its own right. A space that slows guests down, sets you apart, and offers something no other interior can: a room that has been finetuned over centuries specifically to produce a particular quality of presence.

We work with architects, interior designers, and clients directly.

Home
residential conversions or extensions

An existing room, or a new extension, transformed into a chashitsu. The proportions, materials, and joinery are designed from scratch — the result is not a renovation but a new room with its own internal logic, sitting quietly within the fabric of a home.

Suitable for both period and contemporary properties.

Home
residential conversions or extensions

An existing room, or a new extension, transformed into a chashitsu. The proportions, materials, and joinery are designed from scratch — the result is not a renovation but a new room with its own internal logic, sitting quietly within the fabric of a home.

Suitable for both period and contemporary properties.

garden
standalone teahouse

A standalone structure, set apart from the main building — reached by a roji path through a considered landscape. The most complete expression of the form: its own threshold, its own silence, its own world. Built for private residences and estates where the garden can become part of the architecture itself.

Every project is designed in Japan and constructed to order.

garden
standalone teahouse

A standalone structure, set apart from the main building — reached by a roji path through a considered landscape. The most complete expression of the form: its own threshold, its own silence, its own world. Built for private residences and estates where the garden can become part of the architecture itself.

Every project is designed in Japan and constructed to order.

We are a creative studio and consultancy based between London and Tokyo, with our feet in the Mediterranean Sea. 

Reach us here:

kontacto@esestudioese.com

We are a creative studio and consultancy based between London and Tokyo, with our feet in the Mediterranean Sea. 

Reach us here:

kontacto@esestudioese.com

SALAS