Apple's eclectic Sydney flagship shop revealed
Apple this week peeled the bondi blue wrapping from the all-glass facade of its latest high profile retail store in Sydney, allowing passersby to snap photos of the iPhone maker's first Australian outlet before a black curtain was almost immediately raised to block interior views.
The three-story shop at 367 George Street will hold its grand opening on Thursday, June 19 between 5:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. local time. It will be the first of at least three stores destined for the continent, including one in Sydney's Chatswood suburb and another in Melbourne, both of which are expected to open by the holidays.
A fourth location, in Stonnington has also been rumored as part of lavish $200 million redevelopment project targeting a historic but under-utilized Fun Factory building on the corner of Toorak Road and Chapel Street in the Melbourne suburb (renderings).
As is more often the case than not, Apple faced a number of challenges in designing the George Street location because the building it's housed in contains only offices and was never designed to occupy a retail store, according ifoAppleStore's Gary Allen, who is on site awaiting Thursday's official unveiling.
"So when Apple signed the papers, they also signed on to come up with a way to shoehorn their traditional design into a very wide, yet very shallow space," he writes. "The reason for shallow is because behind the store is the central core of the office building, where architects traditionally locate the elevator banks and utility risers. So Apple went in another direcction--they used their now-traditional glass box design for the front, basically enclosing the space between the office building and the sidewalk, and converting it to [form] interior store space."
The Apple Store Sydney | Photo copyright flickr user Carlfish, under this license.
That technique added about 15 feet to the front of the building, which Apple will now use for cashwrap space, Allen says. Similarly, Apple also made modifications to the concrete sideway and entranceway, which originally sloped away from the building.
The Apple Store Sydney | Photo copyright Jon Harsem.
The Apple Store Sydney | Photo copyright Jon Harsem.
"Now Apple has leveled it out, then stepped up where the glass meets the sidwalk. Inside, there are more level changes at the building line--two steps up with railings to reach the actual display space of the store," Allen says. "The sidewalk also slopes downward from right to left at the front of the store. So the glass is flush with the sidewalk on the left side, but perhaps 12-14 inches above the sidewalk on a concrete ledge on the right side."
Apple Store Sydney Panorama | Copyright Aaron Spence
Although Apple retail chief Ron Johnson recently declined to disclose the store's square footage to a local publication, citing interior features that consume unknown portions of space, estimates put it at about 14,370 square feet across the three floors. A staircase apparently sits in a 10-foot section along the shop's rear, which is partially obstructed by a wall.
Several photo galleries, including ifo's, are available around the web: 1, 2, 3, 4. A nice full-screen partial panorama shot is also available here. AppleInsider had also previously published some architects blueprints of the store's floor plans.
The three-story shop at 367 George Street will hold its grand opening on Thursday, June 19 between 5:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. local time. It will be the first of at least three stores destined for the continent, including one in Sydney's Chatswood suburb and another in Melbourne, both of which are expected to open by the holidays.
A fourth location, in Stonnington has also been rumored as part of lavish $200 million redevelopment project targeting a historic but under-utilized Fun Factory building on the corner of Toorak Road and Chapel Street in the Melbourne suburb (renderings).
As is more often the case than not, Apple faced a number of challenges in designing the George Street location because the building it's housed in contains only offices and was never designed to occupy a retail store, according ifoAppleStore's Gary Allen, who is on site awaiting Thursday's official unveiling.
"So when Apple signed the papers, they also signed on to come up with a way to shoehorn their traditional design into a very wide, yet very shallow space," he writes. "The reason for shallow is because behind the store is the central core of the office building, where architects traditionally locate the elevator banks and utility risers. So Apple went in another direcction--they used their now-traditional glass box design for the front, basically enclosing the space between the office building and the sidewalk, and converting it to [form] interior store space."
The Apple Store Sydney | Photo copyright flickr user Carlfish, under this license.
That technique added about 15 feet to the front of the building, which Apple will now use for cashwrap space, Allen says. Similarly, Apple also made modifications to the concrete sideway and entranceway, which originally sloped away from the building.
The Apple Store Sydney | Photo copyright Jon Harsem.
The Apple Store Sydney | Photo copyright Jon Harsem.
"Now Apple has leveled it out, then stepped up where the glass meets the sidwalk. Inside, there are more level changes at the building line--two steps up with railings to reach the actual display space of the store," Allen says. "The sidewalk also slopes downward from right to left at the front of the store. So the glass is flush with the sidewalk on the left side, but perhaps 12-14 inches above the sidewalk on a concrete ledge on the right side."
Apple Store Sydney Panorama | Copyright Aaron Spence
Although Apple retail chief Ron Johnson recently declined to disclose the store's square footage to a local publication, citing interior features that consume unknown portions of space, estimates put it at about 14,370 square feet across the three floors. A staircase apparently sits in a 10-foot section along the shop's rear, which is partially obstructed by a wall.
Several photo galleries, including ifo's, are available around the web: 1, 2, 3, 4. A nice full-screen partial panorama shot is also available here. AppleInsider had also previously published some architects blueprints of the store's floor plans.
Comments
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine...1/b3733059.htm
Plus,employees can quickly pick up Sushi or a Big Mac for lunch.
Jimzip
I get jealous looking at these new stores in Sydney and Boston. Our dinky little SF store is always so cramped and crowded. Please open a bigger SF store Steve- we are Apple's hometown!
True- that SF store is suprisingly petite.
this store came one year too late for me but then again I left that unsavoury place one year too late too.
Sydney's great. Stop whining for God's sake.
Was Steve so busy with iPhone development that he had no time to make a staircase design for this store?
Looks AMAZING!!!!!!
Sydney's great. Stop whining for God's sake.
on the contrary, prolly the least liveable city in OZ, negatives are too long to list here. Can't understand why Apple would open a store down under, small underdeveloped market there. If anything should have been Melburn, a far more civilised place.
I get jealous looking at these new stores in Sydney and Boston. Our dinky little SF store is always so cramped and crowded. Please open a bigger SF store Steve- we are Apple's hometown!
Salt Lake City is too cramped too. It may not be a top market but the revenues per square foot are high. Bigger space in a different location could be a good move.
Wheeling around the panorama, I had to laugh when I steered it off down the street. Only the bottom left portion of the shop was visible (next to McDonalds) and all of a sudden it actually looked like our town's lonely little Apple reseller. Turn back the view and you see there's at least ten times as much of it! Nice?
What are the chances Apple have something not too distant in mind for this grand old building in Edinburgh that's been empty in the lower levels for a few years?
Anyway, congratulations to Sydney on getting the southern hemisphere's first sweet Apple Store. Steve didn't forget ya!
I get jealous looking at these new stores in Sydney and Boston. Our dinky little SF store is always so cramped and crowded. Please open a bigger SF store Steve- we are Apple's hometown!
Technically, San Jose would be the hometown store, wouldn't it?
Technically, San Jose would be the hometown store, wouldn't it?
The hometown is where ever the garage Steve and friends started in ? right?
Skip
I think it's time to say goodbye to our cosy niche.
Jimzip
Yeah, Sunday in the American airlines lounge at O'Hare, I saw 5 laptops, not including mine, 3 were macs. That is very different from years ago when I was ALWAYS the ONLY Mac user in these lounges.... Times there are a changin'
I went to the brand-new Boston Apple Store and saw that it was also eclectic, but they also had some natural light, too.
on the contrary, prolly the least liveable city in OZ, negatives are too long to list here. Can't understand why Apple would open a store down under, small underdeveloped market there. If anything should have been Melburn, a far more civilised place.
Hmm... well I don't know what kind of experience you had, but a little positivity goes a long way in life!
Either way, I can't believe they're finally putting the old Fun Factory to use in Melbourne, who knew an Apple store would be going in there?! Awesome real-estate though. Great position right off Chapel St, and it should be a killer space. Yay Apple!
Jimzip
on the contrary, prolly the least liveable city in OZ, negatives are too long to list here. Can't understand why Apple would open a store down under, small underdeveloped market there. If anything should have been Melburn, a far more civilised place.
You correctly identify Sydney as being a pretty disappointing place, but the credibility of your assessment of the Australian market is somewhat diminished by the fact that you can't spell Melbourne. Whatever else you can say about Sydney, one would imagine a city of over 4 million people could support an Apple store.
I'm not convinced that Australia is a "small underdeveloped" market either. Apple has had a very strong presence in Australia pretty much since inception, and it has been noticeably growing in influence in recent years. Amongst my cohort of young professionals, they have probably now captured somewhere north of 20% of the market.