Tiffany & Co. continues to evolve its retail footprint, debuting a brand new facade for its Palo Alto, Calif., retailer envisioned by acclaimed architect Shigeru Ban.
“When designing, I all the time begin from the situation for context,” Ban defined through a Zoom name from his native Japan. “I proposed a facade which might change appearances and in addition one thing that takes benefit of domestically out there supplies. Relying on the place you have a look at the facade, you’ve got three completely different appearances.”
To his level, the award successful architect included American oak — native to California — to specific Tiffany & Co.’s connection to the state interspersed with vertical glass slats that may be adjusted to varied colorways, accommodating completely different seasons, themes or campaigns.
Ban gained worldwide acclaim by utilizing unorthodox supplies — equivalent to cardboard and paper — for buildings designed to help catastrophe victims across the globe. The Japanese architect’s résumé is intensive, together with the Centre Pompidou-Metz in Metz, France; Cardboard Cathedral in Christchurch, New Zealand, and the Bare Home exterior Tokyo.
“I wished to make use of the Tiffany Blue in another way,” he reported of his facade challenge. “So, I made a zigzag facade: on one facet we put glass, and relying on the illumination, the glass adjustments from Tiffany Blue to completely different colours. That’s one facet. When you strategy from the proper facet of the shop, it seems to have an illuminated Tiffany Blue or different colourful glass facade. When you see the shop from the opposite facet, it seems to be solely manufactured from American oak.”
Positioned at 149 Stanford Buying Heart, the 6,300-square-foot retail location is expansive. Following the much-anticipated reopening of the Tiffany Landmark earlier this yr in Manhattan, Palo Alto marks the newest chapter in Tiffany & Co.’s design evolution and its partnership with world-renowned architects.
The redesigned Tiffany & Co. Palo Alto boutique.
Courtesy Tiffany & Co.
The shop interiors have additionally been reimagined right into a refreshed world of wonders by the LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton-owned model’s inner workforce, reintroducing its shoppers to a brand new Tiffany & Co., an evolution that displays the home’s design idea born with The Landmark New York. Upon getting into, shoppers are immersed on this planet of Tiffany with a customized Schlumberger Blue Flame paintings, paying homage to the model’s heritage and longstanding collaboration with the designer.
As shoppers journey by the retail expertise, gentle curves and natural traces paying homage to clouds on curvilinear partitions create a refreshed elegant and trendy retail atmosphere. Tiffany Blue seems in delicate touches all through the shop, whereas rounded instances in a cultured champagne hue showcase an array of signature Tiffany designs.
Additional inside, the Diamond Eye set up greets company, composed of an abstraction of sides of a diamond, a tribute to Tiffany’s heritage as a purveyor of a number of the world’s best diamonds. Within the coronary heart of the shop, a sapphire coloured Lobmeyr chandelier options intricate crystal designs. Rounded selenite instances exchange conventional linear shows, meant to offer shoppers the chance to buy in a extra intimate manner.
Tiffany & Co.’s redesigned Palo Alto boutique.
Courtesy Tiffany & Co.
Inside finishes draw inspiration from archival motif, reimagined in trendy interpretations of customized plaster and wall finishes, gold cerused wooden accents, blond oak parquet flooring, plush rugs, intricate steel mesh, in addition to gold-leafed columns.
“I’ve made buildings with facades which are very versatile, to make the most of the pure air flow within the good seasons,” Ban mentioned of his lengthy checklist of award successful areas. “This challenge with Tiffany is a part of the identical type of angle, the design can change relying on the situations. My dream is making buildings that, like folks, can change their garments relying on the season.”
