Summary
- 12 Matcha’s Manhattan flagship location was designed by French design company Ciguë
- It combines urban materials with green tones of clay walls and custom furniture
- Walnut staircase leads to a moody low-level tasting room with open upstairs
French design company Hemlock The historic Noho storefront at 54 Bond Street has been transformed into a flagship 12 Matcha. The design spans two levels of the building’s cast iron facade in the 1870s, setting up a longer service bar and ordering area on the ground floor, with secluded seating lounge and intimate tasting room below. By retaining the original Douglas fir floor and highlighting the building’s bank-turned heritage, Ciguë is rooted in the contemporary matcha experience of Manhattan architecture’s past.
A carefully calibrated palette of materials balances urban grit and organic warmth: walls wrapped in green-toned clay evoke fresh tea ceremony, while dark green lava stone sticks secure the ground to the ground. Three oversized glass containers filled with Japanese charcoal make the water filtrate process visible, turning functional elements into the sculptural core. Custom furniture combines hand-painted green paint, brushed stainless steel shelves and a minimalist concrete surface that reflects the etiquette purity of matcha and enhances the sensory focus of the cafe.
Cigüe puts the interior into two emotions, the upstairs is more open and correct, while the lower level emphasizes a more intimate and moody environment. The plate-shaped window shade filters to mimic the atmosphere of a Japanese tea farm, while the walnut staircase takes guests to a glass-enclosed tasting laboratory, oval lamps and steel rod chair frame frame enamel tables.
