Tiffany's Reopens Following OMA Renovation and Addition

World-Architects first spied the design by OMA New York partner Shohei Shigematsu in the summer 2020, when the studio's design was unveiled and a spring 2022 opening was anticipated. Most likely due to the outsized impact of the pandemic, the opening came a year later: on April 28, 2023. From the outside, the changes implemented are limited primarily to the four-story rooftop volume, which was completely rebuilt and now provides a dramatic, custom-glass cap to the six-story limestone building. Inside, the changes were guided by programming and realized with the help of a new vertical core, which allows improved flow from Tiffany's iconic double-height storefront to its reorganized upper floors. The infrastructure and rooftop were carried out by OMA New York (Shigematsu with associate Jake Forster), while the interiors were led by Peter Marino.

The rooftop addition is comprised of two parts, clearly seen in the photographs here: a two-story event space set back from the upper floor devoted to VIPs and private sales. The event space continues to the L-shaped roof terrace that follows the corner site and is given partial shelter by the upper floor. The most innovative part of the design is the enclosure of the VIP space; what Shigematsu describes as a “glass ‘curtain’” is made with slumped glass that “simultaneously provides high transparency and privacy, structural integrity and softness, urban presence and human-scale texture,” per a press release from OMA. Subtly, the curved profile of the glass facade echoes the limestone parapet of the 1940 building that was designed by Cross & Cross.