The Tiffany and Company Building, also known as the Tiffany Building and 401 Fifth Avenue, is an eight-story commercial building at Fifth Avenue and 37th Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, New York, United States. The structure was designed in the Renaissance Revival style by Stanford White of McKim, Mead & White. It was built from 1903 to 1905 as the flagship store of jewelry company Tiffany & Co. The building is a New York City designated landmark and a National Historic Landmark.

The Tiffany Building has a marble facade inspired by that of the Palazzo Grimani di San Luca in Venice. The facade is divided by large entablatures and cornices into three horizontal tiers; the lowest tier has square piers and rectangular openings, while the second and third tiers have round columns and arched openings. The Tiffany Building has a steel superstructure and a sloped metal roof that resembles a tiled roof. The interior originally comprised seven above-ground stories and two basement levels; a mezzanine was added above the first story in 1952. The basement contained a vault, the first six stories contained various departments of the store, and the seventh story was an exhibition space. The interiors were decorated with various woods, marbles, and Guastavino tiles, much of which has since been removed.

Tiffany & Co.'s president Charles T. Cook developed the building, which cost $600,000 and opened on September 5, 1905. The Tiffany store prospered through the 1920s, but it suffered through the Great Depression. After the company moved to a new flagship store on 57th Street in 1940, the building was occupied by American Red Cross and Textron in the 1940s. Henry Goelet of the Goelet family acquired the building in 1951 and renovated the lower stories, while the upper stories were occupied by Allied Stores from 1950 to 1973. Sun Myung Moon of the Unification Church bought the Tiffany Building in 1977 and used it as a newspaper office. Following a failed plan in the late 1980s to build a tower above the Tiffany Building, the upper stories were used as television studios. The Stahl Real Estate Company bought the building in 2000 and renovated the lower stories.

Site The Tiffany and Company Building is at 401 Fifth Avenue in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, New York, United States. It is at the southeast corner with 37th Street. The building's land lot is nearly rectangular, with a recess at its southeast corner, and has a total area of . It measures from north to south and from west to east. Nearby buildings include The Langham, New York hotel and 404 Fifth Avenue to the west; the Lord & Taylor Building one block north; the Morgan Library & Museum and Joseph Raphael De Lamar House one block east; 200 Madison Avenue to the southeast; and the Gorham Building at 390 Fifth Avenue to the southwest.

The residential core of Manhattan relocated north from lower Manhattan during the late 19th century. At the beginning of the 20th century, development was centered on Fifth Avenue north of 34th Street, where new department store buildings were quickly replacing the street's brownstones. One of the first new store buildings in the area was the B. Altman and Company Building, which opened in 1906. Other department stores such as Lord & Taylor, as well as specialty stores such as Tiffany & Co. and the Gorham Manufacturing Company, relocated during the 1900s and 1910s.

Architecture

The Tiffany and Company Building was designed by Stanford White of McKim, Mead & White for luxury retail store Tiffany & Co.; It is the company's fifth flagship store in New York City. The facade is an adaptation of the Palazzo Grimani di San Luca in Venice. The building was originally seven stories tall, though its facade is divided into three horizontal tiers.; The top of the roof is above ground; the high ceilings made the building about as tall as a typical 11-story structure. The facade remains intact, but the interior layout has been changed significantly. The addition of one story in the lowest tier makes the building now eight stories tall.

Facade The facade is made largely of marble with finishes of iron and terracotta. It is divided vertically into five bays on its western elevation, facing Fifth Avenue, and seven bays on its northern elevation, facing 37th Street. Originally, the facade used clear wire glass for fireproofing, which was imperceptible from both the inside and the outside.

First tier

The bays of the lowest tier are mainly articulated by pairs of square Corinthian piers made of marble. Most bays are separated by two square piers, which rise from a single marble pedestal. These support an entablature and balustrade above the second floor. Between these piers, each bay has a square-headed opening. These piers originally were topped by Corinthian capitals, which were removed in 1952.;

On Fifth Avenue, the outermost bays provided an entrance to the Tiffany & Co. store. Each of these outermost bays contained brass porticos with revolving doors. The three inner bays on Fifth Avenue contained plate-glass storefront windows at the first story. Each first-story opening was topped by a marble spandrel, as well as a tripartite second-story window with six panes. Because the site slopes slightly downward to the south, there was a level platform in front of the Fifth Avenue elevation, which was two to four steps above the ground. In 1952, the storefronts, porticos, and spandrels on the first story were removed. In addition, the first story (which was originally slightly above the sidewalk) was lowered to ground level. Several storefronts, with black-granite piers and spandrels, were installed in their place. The black granite was removed in 2002 and the original design of the ground story was restored, with new square piers and bronze storefronts. The pilasters at the ground story are lighter in color than those above.

On 37th Street, the third and fourth bays from west contained porticos similar to those on Fifth Avenue, while the remaining bays contained storefronts. The second story was designed with similar windows and spandrels as on Fifth Avenue.; The center three bays are separated by single rounded columns. The rest of the bays are separated by pairs of square piers, similar to those on Fifth Avenue. The two westernmost bays were modified in 1952 to resemble the storefronts on Fifth Avenue. The third through sixth bays from west remain intact, except for the addition of black-granite spandrels at the mezzanine level. The seventh bay from west (the easternmost bay on that elevation) was retrofitted with a black-granite entrance,; removed in 2002.

Second and third tiers

The second and third tiers are designed similarly with only minor differences. On both tiers, the windows are designed as double-height arches. The bays are separated by rounded Corinthian-style engaged columns, which are generally grouped in pairs; (except the center three bays on 37th Street, which are separated by single columns). The second tier consists of the third and fourth stories. The third story contains rectangular double-hung windows, each divided into several panes. The windows at the third and fourth stories are separated by stone spandrel panels.; The columns contain imposts at that level; these imposts support round arches that rise to keystones at the top of the fourth story. The spandrels above the corners of these arches are exposed, allowing the installation of rectangular windows on the fourth story. The exposed spandrels increased the amount of glass used in the windows behind them.

Above the fourth floor, at the central bay on 37th Street, was a statue of the mythological figure Atlas, designed by Henry Frederick Metzler. This statue had been placed on Tiffany & Co.'s previous headquarters and has been at 6 East 57th Street since 1940. The statue stood as an icon of the brand; the flagship store did not have the name "Tiffany" appear on its facades, and only the statue and clock denoted the company's occupancy. The statue was of a bearded, thin man and was sculpted from wood of a fir tree, painted to resemble the patina of weathered bronze. The feet were made of solid lead. Aside from the Atlas statue, White intentionally did not put any sculpture on the facade.

An entablature separated the fourth floor (top of the second tier) and fifth floor (bottom of the third tier). The fifth and sixth stories are designed almost identically to the third and fourth stories, respectively. The main difference is that the engaged piers are covered with panels, and the spandrels of the arches are covered. The facade is topped by an entablature and a cornice with large modillions. Above the cornice, the seventh story is placed within a pitched roof, which due to its location is not easily visible from the street. The roof appeared to be a tile roof, but it was actually a fireproof metal surface fabricated by the Meurer Brothers.

Structural and mechanical features The interior was divided into seven above-ground stories and two basement levels. The current first story was rebuilt at a lower height in 1952 to allow the installation of a mezzanine above it. The sub-basement is below the sidewalk. The floor slabs are about thick and the exterior walls are up to thick, much larger than in similar buildings. The building also used a steel superstructure, which allowed the use of thinner exterior walls, thereby permitting large glass windows at the first story and exposed spandrels on the fourth story. High ceilings and glazed windows allowed natural light to illuminate almost all of the selling spaces on the first to sixth floors.

As a fireproofing measure, the Tiffany store minimized the use of wood. In addition, all doors were made of steel and all windows were made of wire-glass with steel frames. Terracotta and clay were also used for fireproofing. The ceilings of the basement and top floor were both made of Guastavino tiles, manufactured by the National Fire Proofing Company. Also included within the building were glass partitions made by the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company in a manner resembling marble. All the interior windows, facing adjacent buildings on the same block, are made of wire glass.

Six elevators originally served the building's upper floors. The elevators were steel cages and were in the rear (eastern) part of the store. In 1952, two of the elevators were removed while the other four elevators were rebuilt. In addition to those, a lift allowed patrons to bring their valuables down to the basement vault. There was a private elevator for customers who had valuables in the vault. Wrapping around the elevator cabs was the main stairway, which was decorated with exedra and mythical creatures. The risers of the stairway were wide and were made of Formosa marble. The entire building was fitted with a pneumatic tube system. The basement contained three small generators and an ice machine; to prevent vibrations, the foundation of the basement was encased in a layer of sand. Each floor had eight ventilation fans.

Interior

Basement