Tin Building by Jean-Georges
The Tin Building is a 50,000 square foot culinary experience. This project was many years in the making – a joint venture between Howard Hughes, Mucca, Roman and Williams and countless others – and included the resurrection of a historic building in Lower Manhattan, the inclusion of a legendary chef ‘s vision, and the heaviest design/branding lift I’ve witnessed and been a part of – The finished project was the Gold Winner in Environmental Design from the Better Future Design Awards.
Concept | Design | Production | Marketing
It starts with a historic New York City location – The South Street Seaport. We painstakingly deconstructed the 1930’s Tin Building Fish Market piece-by-piece, reassembling it over two years 30 feet east and 15 feet higher than it's original location – freeing it from the flood plains of lower Manhattan and the FDR highway overpass.
The concept was anything but simple. We aimed to fill the historic building with 6 sit down restaurants, 6 fast/casual counters, 4 full-service bars, 3 markets, and over 400 unique products under the various Tin Building brands. In order to accomplish this feat, the Howard Hughes team paired up with the best in the business, Roman and Williams for the interior buildout, and Mucca for the extensive design system that would inevitably bring the building to life.
The brand system put together by the Mucca Design team was incredibly informed, fine tuned, and malleable – which was crucial in bringing all the different aspects of the building to life. The strong guidelines allowed all the teams involved to stay consistent across the multiple dining concepts and weave a story our customers could fall in love with.
Over 400 product SKUs were sourced, packaged, and designed to be sold throughout the building’s markets and restaurants. And a fun, historically-inspired line of merchandise was brought to life through tea-towels, clothing, and kitchen accessories.
Six months prior to opening, we teased the brand out with a small print/video campaign featuring famous New Yorkers we felt embodied the Tin Building brand including Katie Holmes, Coltrane Curtis (and family), Richie Shazam, and Laila Gohar – as well as a series of animated 'still life' portraits crafted from produce & product plucked from the market shelves.
Leading up to the grand opening, we built out a fully-custom food truck, driving through the Hamptons and catering all over Manhattan - previewing our menus and new products. Opening day, we enlisted an army of chefs to take over parts of the city - Yankees Stadium, The Highline, and Times Square, with choreographed dance and marching to a live brass band toward the Seaport, gaining national media attention.
Creative – Mucca, JGM, The Howard Hughes Studio
Fabrication – MKG, Pink Sparrow
Photos – Nicole Franzen, Mucca, Arkan Zakharov
Construction – Howard Hughes
Interior Design – Roman and Williams