TKTS Booth Brings Green Design to Heart of Times Square

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One of the many reasons why I’ve been waiting for the warm weather this year is to spend some time in Times Square on the steps of the new Perkins Eastman-designed TKTS booth in Father Duffy Square; as you probably know, TKTS provides discount tickets to both Broadway and Off-Broadway shows. I’ve walked past the booth a few times and think the firm did a tremendous job both in terms of the project’s straightforward architecture, as well as applying the Theater Development Fund’s design competition requirement that it include public space. What’s particularly noteworthy about the booth is that it includes some understated green design features which, though visible from the outside of the structure, are nevertheless integrated seamlessly into the booth itself.

Individual structural components were prefabricated, allowing the booth to be constructed quickly on-site and with minimal construction debris. The booth’s twelve ticket windows are housed within a fiberglass core that’s enclosed in glass. LEDs light the red glass steps from below and radiant panels- powered by a geothermal system- control the temperature of the steps in hot and cold weather. The geothermal system also provides temperature control for interior spaces. In late February, the project won a 2009 Merit Award in Architecture from AIA’s New York chapter. Perkins Eastman’s design was actually based on the design competition’s winning submission from architect Choi Ropiha.

Coupled with Mayor Bloomberg’s plans to begin closing off Broadway to vehicular traffic between 42nd and 47th Streets in Times Square, immediately adjacent to the booth, as well as Ricoh’s pending unveiling of Gotham’s first 100 percent wind- and solar-powered electronic billboard on the south face of the Reuters Building (3 Times Square) along 42nd Street, we’re looking forward to a particularly green summer season for the crosswords of the world.

• TKTS Booth Project Profile (Perkins Eastman)
• NYC's First Green Billboard Set for Times Square (gbNYC)