MVRDV’s Innovative 3D-Printed Facade for Tiffany & Co. at Changi Airport

The Tiffany & Co. store at Singapore’s Changi Airport debuts a sustainable façade crafted by MVRDV, emphasizing the brand’s dedication to environmental responsibility. Positioned in the airport’s Piazza Garden, adjacent to the Moshe Safdie-designed Jewel Changi complex, the store showcases an extraordinary façade inspired by coral formations, all created through 3D printing techniques and recycled ocean plastic in collaboration with Amsterdam-based company Aectual and Milan-based engineers BUROMILAN.

In their quest to capture the essence of Tiffany’s heritage and identity, MVRDV’s designers integrated elements like Tiffany Blue® accents and innovative materials, influenced by Louis Comfort Tiffany’s contributions to the art of glass in the late 19th century. The store’s interior also pays homage to Tiffany’s design legacy by incorporating floral and fauna motifs.

The MVRDV team drew inspiration from Singapore’s local environment and its coral reefs, using coral species’ patterns as a thematic foundation. They designed a distinctive organic, cell-like screen to envelop the store’s façade. This screen serves as a canvas for a layer of glass, featuring a color gradient that transitions from Tiffany’s iconic robin’s-egg blue to a deep blue, evoking the maritime setting of Singapore. MVRDV NEXT’s technology experts played a crucial role in fine-tuning the coral-inspired screen’s pattern, ensuring its structural integrity under various stress conditions.

The innovation extends to the materials used in the façade. 3D printing specialists Aectual developed a process to fashion a 50-millimeter-thick screen from recycled plastic, including reclaimed fishing nets. By utilizing this unconventional source of recycled plastic, the design not only takes inspiration from the ocean but also contributes to its protection. Meeting stringent fire safety regulations in an airport environment posed a challenge, which BUROMILAN overcame by adding a fire-resistant chemical derived from seawater to the mixture.

The light and dark blue gradient, mirroring the ocean’s hues, reappears in multiple aspects of the 3D-printed design. The screen transitions from light blue at the front of the store’s entrances to dark blue at the back, with a gradual gradient in between, creating a three-dimensional visual masterpiece.

• Credits Architect: MVRDV 
• Founding Partner in charge: Jacob van Rijs
• Partner: Fokke Moerel 
• Design team: Jacob van Rijs, Fokke Moerel, Aser Gimenez Ortega, Elien Deceuninck, Simone Costa, Monica Di Salvo, Xiaoyi Qin, Natalia Lipczuk, Yayun Liu, Jaka Korla 
• Copyright: MVRDV Winy Maas, Jacob van Rijs, Nathalie de Vries 
• Contractor: Grandwork
  Coral in recycled fishnet material: Aectual B.V.
  Lighting designer: Cooley Monato Studio
  Engineering advisor: BUROMILAN – Milan Ingegneria S.p.A.
• Glass with gradient print: DDG Glass Pte Ltd 
• Photography: Courtesy of Tiffany & Co.