Almost all apple stores today have a recognisable pattern. They are minimalist and expose natural materials such as wood and stone harmonising with a clear and open space to mimic a public environment. Due to its simplistic surroundings and focus on customer experience than products, it attracts a wide range of people all across the world. Plus most of the well-known stores are built upon old structures. It’s even said that the store on 5th Avenue and the brand itself are synonymous.
Though Apple did a fantastic job at renovating old buildings for commercial use, many projects received backlash from the general public. One such project was their Apple store located within the Carnegie library which ideally had no space for retail, hence the controversy. Whereas other buildings such as Central station had commercial areas but still had complaints from many upon construction. Yet this did not prevent Apple from successfully influencing how we view modern outlets.
Overlooking Central Park, the General Motors (GM) building was bought for $1.4 billion by Harry B. Macklowe in 2003. Sitting directly in front of it was a plaza. The plaza had a basement that Macklowe had no idea of what to make of, but he did want to monetise that area and with one company, in particular, Apple. Originally when Steve jobs heard about the location of his future flagship store, he came up with a unique design where the service would be held underground, thus making use of the odd-looking basement. However, Jobs wanted a 40 ft glass cube which Macklowe instantly recognised as problematic. Such a tall cube will not only block the GM building, but it’s also prone to violate zoning restrictions. After seeing the flaw firsthand through a mockup made by Macklowe himself, Apple executives settled with a shorter cube of a height of 30 ft. The original store was to have a glass, cylindrical elevator with a glass staircase spiralling around it. And of course, the addition of the huge, glowing apple logo makes it instantly recognisable to any potential customer from a distance. Happening to be a flagship store in midtown Manhattan, the store was open 24/7 which was a separate discussion held by several architects, one of them being Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, the architect who had previously designed the Soho Apple store.
On May 19 2006, the 5th Avenue apple store was presented to the public. The reactions were very unexpected, with each day having approximately 50,000 visitors and $1 million generated. The simplistic and open environment of the stores was meant to parallel the simplistic design of their products and as mentioned their concern, with this store, in particular, was to provide a customer experience.
Apple 5th Avenue then had its first renovation in 2011 which primarily focused on further simplifying the glass cube. Previously the cube used 90 panels of glass, but after a total of $6.6 million and 5 months spent, they rebuilt the cube using only 15 panels which gave the store a refreshed and cleaner look. Though the earlier intentions of apple were to upgrade the minimalist design, the second 2017-2019 renovation gave importance to functionality. The store was demolished and due to this being a two-year plan, Apple temporarily shifted its store to another part of the GM building which was previously occupied by FAO Schwarz, a toy store.
Due to the ever-increasing amount of customers, apple had to expand its flagship store. It took two years but the modifications were astonishing. From the start, the glass cube was present to permit the entry of natural light to form a similarity to public spaces. To elaborate on this idea, 62 portholes/ skylights were installed in the ceiling of the basement allowing even more light to enter the area. Furthermore, LED lighting outlines individual portholes and the colour temperature varies according to the tint of the natural light present to provide contrast. From the surface, these portholes are visible and have been transformed into chrome benches with ’sky lenses’ which would allow a person to have a bird’s eye view of the store below. The ceilings were heightened and the new store was almost 2 times larger than before. The glass staircase and elevator were replaced with stainless steel in order to harmonise with the natural sensation. More greenery was brought in, most notable around the perimeter of the store which also allowed customers to charge their devices. The area around the plaza had undergone several changes, as well as the addition of two further entrances. The current store has many rooms that include a presentation room for education and innovation as well as rooms specifically designed to show how their products work in real-time.
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