TKTS Booth

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WHO

Architects: Perkins Eastman, Choi Ropiha
Installer: Shuldiner

WHERE & WHEN

New York, NY
Americas
Completed · 2009

WHAT & HOW

Custom, Public Works · New Build
Custom all glass staircase enclosing fiberglass ticket booth

This iconic landmark in New York City’s Times Square is the first all-glass structural envelope in the United States and one of the only ones in the world. This project was one of the most valued collaborative experiences of Franz Safford’s career and it enabled him to work closely with Nicholas Leahy, now co-CEO of Perkins Eastman. Every first of its kind projects needs a champion to succeed and Nick was this project's champion.

FROM ARCHITECT OF RECORD PERKINS EASTMAN

❝An all-glass amphitheater where people enjoy the theater of Times Square, the TKTS Booth at Father Duffy Square is a 'window into the city’s soul.' The building is a technological marvel with innovative and elegantly-realized details. The world’s largest all-glass public structure, supported by innovative stringer beams spanning between two-inch thick glass walls, encases a white fiberglass shell boasting the TKTS logo and housing the sales windows. Mechanical systems supporting the building functions are on display and run on a five-well geothermal system extending 450 feet into Manhattan’s bedrock.❞

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The walls, super structure, and treads are glass. The determining load case to size the glass beams and shear walls was 500 people jumping up and down on New Years Eve. The primary load resisting structure is glass. Major innovations were achieved on this project by the supplier team including the lamination of multiple pieces of glass into an assembly. Prior to this project most laminators only had expertise to laminate two panes of glass while this project required 4. Unique ball joint connection brackets anchor the glass beams to the front main wall and allow for rotational movements to prevent over-stressing the glass. The glass staircase structure encloses the fiberglass ticket booth facility and the HVAC equipment. It has become an iconic New York place to see.

“I have collaborated with Franz for close to 30 years, he has been one of my go-to people when I want to work with an open-minded and creative partner, someone to bounce ideas around and solve interesting problems, of any scale and budget—butterfly houses, facades of all types, canopies, and glass steps. I have found Franz never shies away from a challenge, he has an intuitive sense of design and engineering, and like all great collaborators, gets excited when you start asking the “what if” questions. There is nothing quite as fun and fulfilling as sketching through the various design solutions to an option. I have never heard no from Franz; he is always positive and delivers quality through and through.”

Nicholas Leahy Co-CEO and Executive Director
PERKINS EASTMAN

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❝
IN THE PRESS DEZEEN MAGAZINE

The project has helped redefine the way New York views its usable public spaces and provides a novel way in which to see a building and a landscape. Even though the project is small in physical stature, it has had a transformative impact upon Time Square itself, and in the New York City context, has caused new conversations about the importance of the public realm in the making of cities.

—TKTS Booth and Father Duffy Square by Choi Ropiha, Perkins Eastman · Nov. 26, 2009

❞