OMA's New York office, led by OMA Partner Shohei Shigematsu, has unveiled images to transform Tiffany & Co.'s new flagship store in New York.

OMA's new vision will renovate and reimagine the retail experience while preserving the historic identity of the original building. Announced on OMA's website, construction on the project is currently underway and is on track to be completed in Spring 2022.

The project will be led by OMA Partner Shohei Shigematsu, who previously designed a "fashion-temple" for The Met’s Manus X Machina exhibition. Shigematsu leads the firm's US projects in every level, starting from their conceptual phase to completed construction phase.

Marking the first holistic renovation and preservation effort in the building’s 80-year history, OMA and Tiffany & Co.'s collaboration will oversee specific aspects of the transformation—including the re-imagined upper volume atop the building. 

The upper volume will comprise the new floors - from the 8th to 10th  - of the 10-story architectural icon located at 727 Fifth Avenue will become an exhibition, event and clienteling space that meets the growing and diverse program needs of the brand.

"The collaboration began with a close-look at the existing conditions of the multi-story retail to conceive a spectrum of interventions—from preservation to reprograming, renovation of the ground floor and reimagining how the top of the building is expressed," said OMA in press release. 

In new design scheme, OMA will reorganize the program that establishes a clear zoning throughout the building creating a more fluid circulation through and up the building. 

"The top of the building is conceived as an addition that would provide a new dimension to Tiffany’s retail ecosystem and speaks to the brand’s diversity of retail experiences," the firm added.

Conceived as a "multi-functional upper volume", it will provide a new infrastructure for Tiffany to expand their retail repertoire, large enough to accommodate the brand’s variety of events and activities. "This distinct space will create a new facet to the brand’s identity that is communicated to the street and neighborhood," explained OMA.

"Tiffany’s 5th Avenue Flagship is more than a retail space, it is a destination with a public dimension," said OMA Partner Shohei Shigematsu. 

"The new addition is informed by programmatic needs of the evolving brand—a gathering place that acts as a contemporary counterpart to the iconic ground level space and its activities." 

"The floating volume over an existing terrace provides a clear visual cue to a vertical journey of diverse experiences throughout the building," Shigematsu added.

The architect divided the upper volume into two spaces that are stacked but have the potential to work together. The top floor is "encased by a slumped glass façade that takes cues from the corniced parapet of the original building." 

According to a press release, "unlike traditional curved glass which typically has two pieces of glass that are offset shapes of one another, the top floor façade combines flat and slumped glass, taking the two different qualities and leveraging their distinct advantages."

Preferring the slumped glass, this type of glass is structurally favorable and requires less vertical support while creating a mirrored effect that provides privacy from the exterior, as the firm explains. 

By using a flat low-e glass, it is aimed to optimize energy performance while minimizing reflections from the interior to preserve transparency for views out onto the city. 

"The resulting façade, resembling a soft curtain, is an antidote to the harsh curtain walls of the building’s neighbors," as the firm highlights.

"Floors 8 and 9 are a more efficient, with straight glass yet echo the volume above it, creating an additional column-free and double height space open to both sides of the building."

On the upper level, the volume is recessed to provide a spacious outdoor terrace for a series of programmed exhibitions and events,  providing views up Fifth Avenue to Central Park. 

"The two spaces of the upper volume that make up the new addition is a moment of clear but complementary contrast to the original flagship," OMA added. "It is a symbolic ending to the building that reflects an evolved luxury experience that is more a journey than a destination."

All images courtesy of OMA

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