Willow Tearooms, Tea house in Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, Scotland.
Willow Tearooms is a tea house in Sauchiehall Street in Glasgow with an asymmetric white facade and multi-floor layout. The interiors show tall chair backs, stencil friezes and decorated paneling in the dining rooms.
Catherine Cranston commissioned Charles Rennie Mackintosh to design the tearooms, which opened in October 1903 as part of her initiative for alcohol-free social spaces. The architect shaped the building entirely from furniture to wall colors in the new European style.
The name combines the Scots words for willow and meadow and shaped the plant motifs in glass windows and wall decoration. Visitors see these symbols in the metalwork of doors and on the chair backs throughout the building.
The National Trust for Scotland maintains the building at number 217 and offers tea service plus guided tours through the restored rooms. Access is from street level, with some areas reachable only by stairs.
The Room de Luxe on the first floor has a vaulted ceiling and a large bay window facing the street. This room shows the most original design elements by the architect in the entire building.
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