A friend of mine, Marc Jay, is part proprietor of WE Architecture. He has a great sense of high impact meets minimal design. Here is an example of one of his designs, which happens to be one of my favorites (it's my blog, I post what I want. Bitch).
The space itself isn't too large, so it really benefits from the sparse furnishings. Aside from the checkout counter, there is nothing in the form of free standing furniture-- combine that with the stark white walls, hanging jars, and sterility and you have a pretty swank, minimalist, slightly futuristic lab. And it is: only that this lab wont ever find the cure for cancer, or even the cure for the common cold. Small details, really. But what it will do is cure you from the agony of a long day of work, a lousy cold day, or (depending on what teas you drank when a child) homesickness.
I also love that Marc and his partners decided to incorporate the tea house's teapot logo into the design of the shop (great for branding purposes), which you really only see when you are standing outside the shop, once you walk around inside, the teapot (made up of hundreds of round perforations) dissipate into simple round shapes.
I haven't been to the shop yet, but it is in my things-to-do-next-time-I'm-in-Copenhagen list.
