Non Studio Design & Research designs a lemon tea theater in Beijing | Non Studio Design & Research

When takeaways provide us with great convenience, how to drive offline-customer growth has become an important topic for brands nowadays. In the beginning of 2021, Non Studio designed a small lemon tea “theater” for the new lemon tea brand Introlemons in Sanlitun, Beijin. The staff give a tea-making performance for the customers, and the customers become the audience.

The outside seating area is an introduction to the indoor theater. The bases of the tables and chairs outside are laid out with lemon-shaped mosaics like the indoor floor, and the sides made of stainless steel outline the topography.

Minimum alteration was done to the façade. Non Studio avoided over-designing and dissolved the sense of "facade" by inserting large glasses between the existing columns to ensure maximum transparency and to weaken the boundary.

The usual bar and kitchen area are packed into a cube that is detached from the ceiling. It is the stage of this small theater. The display area of the stage is carefully designated, zeroing in on four "acts" while the rest of the stage is blurred out. These four acts constitute the play that is the process and craftsmanship of lemon tea making. The same trick is applied to the mirror wall in the south. The floor gets visually extended by the mirror, a layer of gray dots which is dense on the top and loose on the bottom is applied to the mirror wall to prevent the reflection from getting visually too chaotic.

The pickup windows and the service counter are positioned in the back of the stage for they are the "backstage" of the theater. Small and narrow pickup windows only allow customers to see the hand of the staff, embedded top lights helped to make the lemon tea the center of focus.

The dining area is the “auditorium”, sloped and bumpy floor imitates steps of an auditorium at the same time evokes people's memories of the hillside tea garden. Tall tables and low stools form different clusters in the dining area; A third type of furniture is introduced to the cluster: the tray unit. Customers can carry multiple drinks at the same time with the help of tray, after seated, one can insert the tray into the rod, then the “tray unit” perform as a cup-holder.

Lemon elements have repeatedly appeared in the store to reinforce brand image, including custom-made lemon-shape mosaics. Lemon-shape mosaics are very carefully angled and arranged to avoid any increase of gaps or visual distortion since the floor is not flat.

This is a store that only provides cold drinks, the simple yet delightful shapes and materials together created a cool and imaginative space that is just as fresh and refreshing. At Introlemons Beijing Sanlitun store, customers gain the full range of perception and experience of the brand.