"Summer Field" Tea Bar at La Habra, California

2025, June 1 - June 7

In late 2024, a new architectural gem appeared along Lambert Road in La Habra, California showing off its serene, light-filled café interior. It embodies the evolving typology of suburban commercial design. Summerfield, a bubble tea chain popular among students, opened yet another shop. The shop has an elegant representation of social media's "aesthetic" look and shows how a modest tenant renovation can transform a retail shell into a well planned interior experience, as a result of its gentle colors, vertical pieces that are rhythmically spaced, and flowing circulation.

1. The Spatial Sequence and Blueprint

Upon entry, the interior welcomes its customers through a defined axial axis, a hallway decorated by vertical green dividers that create visual coherence and rhythm. In addition to organizing the room, these architectural walls serve as semi-permeable barriers that control views and silently arrange seating areas without enclosing them. The opposite side features booth-style, narrower sitting beneath built-in wood benches, while the other side transforms into an extended lounge area. The spatial partitioning gives warmth at various dimensions while preserving openness and visual access throughout. The clever designed space supports solo guests and small parties.

2. Material Palette and Color Logic

The color scheme of the interior highlights the casual but cozy mood of the partitioning. The walls are composed of subdued sage green. The pale green painted vertical panelling serves as an emphasis in the column-like vertical dividers and defines the bottom wall plane. It feels simple and clean, yet it provides warmth. Modern furniture made of warm ash wood and natural woven textures. The soft geometry and lighting in the room are complemented by the curved edges and rounded legs of tables and benches made of softly stained wood. The sphere pendant lights provide a visual rhythm above the main axis by hanging uniformly along the length of the room. The soft ambient lighting is enhanced by their diffused glow, which furthers the peaceful atmosphere of the space. This is all held contrasting its tiled floor pattern of alternating black diamonds within a creamy grid. A balance between formality and softness is achieved with this combo.

3. Transparency and Relationship to the Exterior

The material palette is made visible throughout the day by the abundant natural light that comes in through the large storefront windows. With seating that takes use of both indoor and outdoor spaces, the cafe promotes a smooth transition. Despite its small size, the building's relationship with the public realm is enriched by the visual openness to the outside.

4. Architectural Typology

The space communicates through architectural clarity and spatial discipline rather than flashy graphics or over-the-top branding. It crosses typologies where it's a modernist pavilion, a café, and also a common study area, great for a quick work session while getting something to drink. It represents a trend in which architectural sensitivity, rather than retail environment, is increasingly shaping fast-casual venues.

This interior design by KTIK Design serves as an example of how little architectural changes can significantly improve user experience. Symmetry, repetition, and a soft color scheme was used to create a calm and inviting environment. It serves as a meaning that good design does not always need monumental form but instead merely requires attention to light and materials, spatial rhythm, and a clear intention.