Dual Moods: How Ciguë Splits Light and Shadow at 12 Matcha's Manhattan Flagship
An open, sunlit service area upstairs contrasts with a moody, glass-enclosed tasting lab below.
Summary
- 12 Matcha’s Manhattan flagship location is designed by French design firm Ciguë
- It combines urban materials with green-toned clay walls and custom furnishings
- A walnut staircase leads to a moody lower-level tasting room, contrasting the open upstairs
French design firm Ciguë has transformed a historic NoHo storefront at 54 Bond Street into the flagship for 12 Matcha. Spanning two levels of the building’s 1870s cast-iron façade, the design places a long service bar and ordering area on the ground floor, with a secluded seating lounge and intimate tasting room below. By retaining original Douglas fir floorboards and highlighting the building’s bank-turned-theatre heritage, Ciguë roots the contemporary matcha experience in Manhattan’s architectural past.
A carefully calibrated material palette balances urban grit with organic warmth: walls wrapped in green-toned clay evoke fresh tea fields, while a dark green-enameled lava stone bar anchors the ground level. Three oversized glass vessels filled with Japanese Binchotan charcoal make the water-filtration process visible, turning a functional element into a sculptural centerpiece. Custom furnishings combine hand-applied green lacquer, brushed stainless steel shelving, and minimalist concrete surfaces, reflecting matcha’s ritualistic purity and reinforcing the café’s sensory focus.
Cigüe divided the interior into two moods, with the upstairs being more open and right, while the lower floors emphasized a more intimate and moody environment. Slatted window shades filter natural light to mimic Japanese tea-field ambiance, while a walnut staircase leads guests to a glass-enclosed tasting lab, where an oval light fixture and steel bar chairs frame an enamel-stone table.
