New TKTS booth opened on Times Square

Following a design competition with 683 submissions, the new TKTS booth, has now been opened. The brief was to redesign the 35-year-old TKTS booth, which sells half-price, same-day tickets to Broadway shows.

After the competition, the concept was developed and progressed by architects Perkins Eastman (responsible for the booth design) and William Fellows Architects (responsible for the plaza design). The top of the new booth is structured as a terrace with a series of 27 red structural glass steps forming the seating area for up to a maximum of 1,500 people.

One of the jurors for the competition, Tucker Viemeister, believes the new TKTS booth to be a welcome addition to the buzzing environment, “It goes beyond meeting the criteria [of the competition] and is even poetic, which is really hard considering the Times Square environment. It will become a landmark.”

The winning entry by Australia's John Choi and Tai Rohipa rephrased the brief and developed an urban design project. They designed their proposal based on the fact that the original booth was one of New York’s main gathering points, and a focal point for urban theatre, however, there was nowhere for people to sit.