When we took on this project we were tasked with revitalizing an old, worn Japanese teahouse that was originally built in the 1980’s. The original design was simple but had not been kept up and so age and weather had worn it over the years. We decided to introduce an ancient Japanese technique called Sho Shugi ban. With this technique our craftsmen use fire to burn and singe each piece of wood to the desired texture and then lightly sand off some of the char to obtain the desired effect. Burning the wood offers several benefits in addition to the aesthetic appeal. it adds a layer of protection from weather, pest infestation, rot, sun damage and includes a layer of fire protection which is of the utmost importance in this region of California. after burning the wood and a light sand, we then added a penetrating stain sealer with a blue / grey tint. this enhanced the burning aesthetic and really helped each piece of cedar and the grain within to pop. We combined this with a Bison pedestal decking system utilizing a beautiful Ipe Wood for the finish surface. We really enjoyed how these two colors interacted and complimented each other while subtly contrasting, giving the place a dark, charred feel but with the warmth of the red from the Ipe. We added sugar pine from the northwest forrests of Oegon for our railing system. We utilized a stark white coloring here again playing with the dark and warm colorings of the other elements. we also added some acrylic paneling to replicate original Japanese motifs and wrapped the existing lighting system with this as well. We carefully charred each piece of wood on the trellis above and wove a beautiful existing tree throughout each layer giving the impression it had been there for decades. We rebuilt the exterior doors by hand with stunningly beautiful clear Red cedar. This process took the utmost patience and attention resulting in an extremely high quality finished product. The homeowner was ecstatic with the result. Finally we wrapped the interior with some gorgeous old growth red wood that is native to the region. We included some recessed lighting under each tread of the sugar pine stair case for a sleek, modern element that we thought would help transcend this project from its old world feel to the more common modern aesthetic of the city in which it resides.