ANC was recently selected by The Howard Hughes Corporation to integrate GLAAM America’s Media Glass—a transparent LED-embedded construction-grade display material—in its transformation of the historic Tin Building in Lower Manhattan. The structure is being renovated into a 53,000-square-foot marketplace operated by Jean-Georges Vongerichten with a careful blend of history with technology, and ANC’s installation in the Tin Building will be the largest deployment of the GLAAM Media Glass in the United States.
As the first of many projects to come out of the ANC/GLAAM integration and operation partnership announced in October of 2020, the Tin Building’s installation of GLAAM Media Glass is an opportunity for the building to be at the cutting edge of media technology.
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The original Tin Building was home to the famous Fulton Fish Market, a once-burgeoning fish market dating back to the early 1800s and the epicenter of wholesale fish trade in the United States. Today, the reconstructed building will serve a new generation in the heart of the Seaport District.
GLAAM Media Glass will cover more than 1,100 square feet of space surrounding the escalators in the heart of the building. While on the escalator, shoppers will have clear views of the marketplace awaiting them. The view from the retail floor to the glass will be an ever-changing array of fully programmable content that ANC will tie into the greater audiovisual network at Pier 17 using their proprietary LiveSync control system. ANC has long aided The Howard Hughes Corporation in creating unique digital environments in their developments, and its work on the Tin Building represents a continuation of that with the next generation of media façade technology. ANC is working alongside the project’s architect and design team at Roman and Williams, and construction manager, Plaza Construction.
“We’re thrilled to expand our partnership with The Howard Hughes Corporation to bring this truly unique experience to life in the revitalized Seaport District—an experience that will set the bar high for what an experiential shopping and dining experience can be,” said Jerry Cifarelli, ANC founder and vice chairman who oversaw The Tin Building project on ANC’s behalf. “Our clients continually look to ANC as an AV design and integration partner to uncover, vet, and install the latest technology so they can provide their customers with memorable, engaging experiences. With GLAAM Media Glass in the Tin Building, we can provide that very attractive atmosphere.”
GLAAM Media Glass is unique in that it eliminates the compromise of design and building value from obstructed views and blocked natural light from LED screens, bars, mesh, and attachments. The embedded micro-LED technology, weatherproofed and protected from the elements, creates a seamless connection between the physical and digital experience. It requires far less maintenance and repair than previous LED offerings, is priced at a similar capital investment, and is estimated to provide 100,000 hours of full brightness over its lifetime, thus creating a total lower cost of ownership.
The Tin Building will also be one of the first in the United States to integrate a commercial video wall in a public space using transparent OLED. The Tin Building is a continuation of ANC’s work with The Howard Hughes Corporation at Pier 17, where ANC designed a custom multimedia system complete with no-bezel LED columns for continuous content display.
“The interest we’re receiving from our clients in the sports, entertainment, transit, and development worlds signals a huge demand for these new media technologies,” said George Linardos, ANC president and chief executive officer. “The future isn’t about sitting idly and watching the world go by—it’s about innovating, and being in the moment, and we’re so proud to help create the future, today through our partnership program with the most innovative technologies in the space.”
