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A new teahouse will be built in the Japanese gardens at Royal Roads

A Japanese teahouse will be the newest addition to the gardens at Royal Roads University (RRU) thanks to an anonymous donor.

Plans for a large-scale revitalization of the Japanese gardens will include a traditional Japanese teahouse, where formal tea ceremonies can be held.

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The teahouse will be built in a traditional Japanese style while still achieving “modern goals for accessibility.”

Vera Gammert, the University’s project manager for capital projects, says up to 20 people will be accommodated at tea ceremonies and the structure is designed to blend in with surrounding garden elements while using only natural sources of heating and cooling.

“Most people come to the gardens for the tranquility, for the Zen of the Japanese gardens and the beauty, of course,” says Gammert. “Part of the idea is we feel doing something like this will make us even more of a destination place for people to visit.”

RRU Presidnet and Vice-Chancellor Phillip Steenkamp adds that the university is a place of learning that is not limited to classrooms.

“Just as our kitchen garden offers chances to learn about food security and sustainability, our Japanese gardens provide a place where visitors can immerse themselves in, perhaps, a culture different from their own,” he says.

“I’m excited that the teahouse will add to these opportunities while providing another venue on our campus where we can host special gatherings.”

According to a background document on the Japanese tea ceremony from Ogawa Landscape Design of Burnaby, BC, which is leading the Japanese gardens project, “Teahouses are structures created for the practice of the Japanese tea ceremony, known as chadō or sadō, ‘the way of tea.’

“The tea ceremony is a meditative practice with roots in Zen Buddhism but there is no overt religious meaning in the ceremony,” the document continues. “Participants remove themselves from the world to enter a ceremony that encourages a state of being fully present in the moment, free from worldly thoughts.”

As well, “The tearoom is a unique space where the host and guests gather to share time without thinking about worldly concerns. It is not ostentatiously decorated; it is free of tables and chairs, and the host and guests interact with each other sitting on the floor.”



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