Finlays Tea
Following the successful completion of the coffee tasting lab, Finlays Beverages appointed Design FYI to reimagine their tea tasting lab.
The brief was to create a dedicated space for clients to experience and evaluate new tea blends, while supporting the day-to-day operational needs of the team.
The project brings together four distinct yet interconnected areas: the boardroom, client tea tasting space, laboratory, and office. Each zone has a clear function, but they are unified through a consistent architectural language, allowing the space to feel cohesive, fluid, and intuitive to navigate.
At the core of the design is the idea of connection. Not only between spaces, but between tradition and modernity, function and experience, precision and atmosphere.
TEA TASTING
The tea tasting area sits at the heart of the project, designed as a dual-purpose environment for both client presentations and tasting sessions.
The space is carefully composed around a central circular geometry, which helps to define the experience and create a sense of focus. Behind this, a semi-circular arrangement of bespoke joinery integrates display and storage, allowing the space to remain visually clean while supporting practical needs.
A new overhead structure was introduced to house a bespoke stretched canvas lighting feature, paired with a slatted ceiling detail. This creates a soft, diffused light that enhances the atmosphere of the room, shifting it away from a purely functional setting into a more immersive and considered experience.
Arched openings are used to subtly separate this space from the more operational areas, ensuring that client interactions feel distinct while still connected to the wider environment.
THE BOARDROOM
The boardroom is designed as a focused, refined environment for meetings and presentations, anchored by a bespoke feature wall that subtly expresses the global nature of the business.
The world map is not applied as a graphic, but crafted into the surface using layers of Venetian plaster. A base layer establishes depth and texture, while raised elements define the continents. Select regions are then highlighted in a contrasting tone, marking the origins of the tea in a way that feels tactile, integrated and architectural rather than decorative.
This approach transforms the wall into a quiet storytelling element, reinforcing the brand’s global reach while maintaining a calm and professional atmosphere.
THE LAB
The laboratory is designed to support the technical and repetitive processes of tea blending and tasting. Functionality is prioritised here, with long work surfaces, durable materials and integrated systems that allow the team to work efficiently.
A key requirement was the storage of a large volume of tea samples. This is addressed through a heavy-duty, mobile archival storage system, allowing for both high capacity and flexibility within the space. The layout ensures that the lab operates independently from client-facing areas, while still remaining visually connected to the rest of the environment.
CONNECTING SPACES: THE CIRCULAR THEME
A defining feature of the project is the use of circular openings to connect the different areas. Inspired by traditional Japanese architecture and the cultural significance of tea as a ritual, these forms introduce a softer, more human layer to the space.
Rather than acting purely as partitions, these circular elements frame views between rooms, creating moments of visual connection while maintaining separation. They allow the different functions to coexist without feeling isolated, encouraging a sense of flow and continuity throughout.