Rose Tea Cafe
The rose colored “bubbles” that float up from the renovated doorway of Mike Wu’s popular “Rose Tea Cafe”, on Forbes Avenue in Squirrel Hill, call to mind his famous bubble tea (also known as pearl milk tea, boba milk tea, boba juice or simply boba). Our sources report that most bubble tea recipes include mixing/shaking a tea base with fruit or milk. Chewy tapioca balls and fruit jelly are added afterwards. Ice-blended versions usually mix fruit or syrup, resulting in a slushy consistency. There are many varieties of the drink with a wide range of ingredients. The two most popular varieties are bubble milk tea with tapioca and bubble milk green tea with tapioca.
Read More >Our “Rose Tea Cafe” facade design quite literally follows the bubbles and is developed around them. They subsequently reappear indoors, emerging from wood ceiling panels that thread their way above the dining space. We connected the original two existing buildings into one.
As with many of our projects, following the building code requirements while adhering to the client’s available funding was a continuing challenge.
The model in my renderings is my Chinese intern, Lin Hou. As of this edit, she has graduated from the University of Pittsburgh and Columbia University, where she obtained her Masters in Architecture. Lin tells me she continues to love bubble tea. We wish her good luck as she enters professional life!
For more commercial work by Fisher ARCHitecture, check out 513 Court Place and Merging Media.
