Phoenix Wharf, the Bristol-based design agency specialising in hospitality and retail, has completed work on a unique café that combines ancient Eastern tea-drinking and contemporary Western coffee cultures.
Called Oricha – a name that combines the start of the word ‘original’ with ‘cha’, Chinese for tea – the venue in Birmingham city centre has taken inspiration from China, Japan and specially Taiwan, as well as from British tearooms and coffee houses.
This fusion reflects the background of the brand’s three university students-turned-entrepreneurs Hayden Yuen, Jaspar Lo and Shukki Chan.
Phoenix Wharf, which was founded in Bristol in 2015 and has worked with major retail and café chains such as Space NK, The National Trust, Yeo Valley and Spicer + Cole, was called in to design the interior of the double retail unit, a former jewellery store.
Phoenix Wharf creative director Chris Gwyther said: “We were briefed to work with the new branding and the idea of an Asian-Western fusion, referencing the eclectic cafes of the 1930s/40s Shanghai Bund era and incorporating elements of traditional Chinese design, such as the use of tiles and timber battens.
“British coffee and tea houses were a further part of the mix, alongside more modern elements such as a concrete floor and contemporary lighting.”
The 55.9 sq m unit is made up of 16.9 sq m front-of-house and 18.6 sq m behind the counter, which has been placed almost halfway back, so that customers do not have to queue outside when the weather is bad.
The counter front itself is clad in timber-effect laminate set over custom-made steel units and featuring brass detailing with a tiled lower section, using a porcelain tile that replicates Oricha’s logo, which features a tea leaf integrated into the letter ‘R’.
The brand icon is a T Rex dinosaur, a fun take on a Chinese dragon.
The T Rex bears a large, traditional tea bowl on its back, representing the Eastern tradition of offering hospitality, and is decorated in a bespoke pattern inspired by stems and leaves.
The Oricha crest above it represents the seal of quality and encompasses the Chinese character for ‘tea’ in a circle. The brand strapline – ‘Oriental and Original, since antiquity’ – surrounds this family of icons. The identity’s colourway of rich blue, white, gold and grey also formed part of the brief for the new environment.
Chris Gwyther added: “Oricha immediately stands out from its more brightly-coloured competitors with its subtle and under-stated references to the traditional and the modern.
“We’re sure it will trade well and look forward to working with its owners on future iterations in different British cities!”
Part of Bristol creative group Istoria, Phoenix Wharf has been nominated for several major national retail and hospitality awards and was a GOLD winner in the hospitality category of the London Design Awards in both 2019 and 2020 for its work with Yeo Valley and The Bristol Loaf.
Images by Gary Britton
