Hestia Tea Shop

HESTIA is a boutique beverage company that first opened its doors in Montreal in 2013. After a few years of operation, the founders rebranded and were eager to move into a new market with a fresh store design. Reflect Architecture teamed up with Hestia to imagine how their newly evolved brand would translate into the built environment. The 27 square meter unit was secured in Toronto’s busy TD Concourse, prompting the team to design a space that would promote Hestia's new evolution while responding to the visual noise that is prolific in Toronto’s underground PATH system.

Despite being small, the team wanted the space to invoke a sense of calm that is commonly associated with tea, so Reflect took a minimal approach to colour and material massing that centres on the new brand and allows guests respite from the chaos of Toronto’s downtown core. The perforated screens shield the edges of the unit to create a sense of enclosure and comfort while still allowing passers-by to visually experience the space in its entirety. Reflect wanted people’s experience of Hestia to be the same, whether open or closed for business, because of the high volume of traffic in the PATH after hours. To achieve this, glass panels sit behind the fixed screens by day and rotate closed to provide the needed evening enclosure without the clunky metal grills commonly pulled across the units when closed.

As Hestia continues to expand each store will be unique, but creating a sense of calm will be always be a central focus of the design process.