Located in the Taikoo-Li Qiantan retail development, the Tiffany store features a façade with an external screen composed of 6,988 handcrafted glass “diamonds”, evoking Tiffany’s renowned jewellery designs. During the day, these elements reflect and refract the surroundings, resulting in a glittering effect, while at night the façade’s LED lighting allows the store to shine in an infinite range of colours.
MVRDV’s design stands out with its bold and deceptively simple concept, underpinned by a deep understanding of Tiffany’s identity and history, paying homage to Tiffany’s heritage by placing an emphasis on innovative materiality, sense of three-dimensionality, and the ability to spark wonder in onlookers.
The glass diamonds are placed to give a randomly scattered effect, thinning out for greater visibility where needed, such as alongside the first-floor balcony that accompanies the store’s café.
Each of these glass diamonds is 21 cm wide and 13 cm tall, weighing 1.5 kilograms. They are suspended on thin steel cables, which are coated in a mirrored steel finish and placed in high tension between the top and bottom frames of the structure. Specially designed steel fixtures, designed to be as small and unobtrusive as possible, ensure the diamonds do not move or spin on their supports. The façade uses only mechanical connections, allowing it to be completely dismantled and its parts reused or recycled in the future.
The project integrates low-energy, colour-changing LED lighting into both the top and bottom of the façade. The façade can thus be lit in any colour, with each colour being brought to life by the refractive effects of the glass diamonds.
Photography: © Wen Studio; © Tiffany & Co.
