Glass-adorned Apple Store Sydney revealed (images)

[AppleInsider]

Apple's design proposal for its first retail store in Australia includes three floors at the base of Sydney sky-rise building just outside the spectacular maritime setting of the King Street Wharf.

The project, at the corner of King and George streets, is estimated to cost in excess of $15 million in renovations, AppleInsider has learned. Design renderings call for a protruding glass atrium to blanket the facade of all three floors, with a glowing 10-foot Apple logo suspended between levels two and three.

A set of schematic drawings compiled by Apple's architectural partner, Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, depict a wide but shallow retail mecca totaling some 15,000 square feet -- about 5,000 square feet per floor. A trademark glass staircase appears to run lengthwise across the right rear.

Of the three floors, the first two will be dedicated to sales of Macs, iPods and other consumer electronics, according to the schematics. Meanwhile, the top floor will be reserved specifically for customer service and include a sprawling genius bar made of wood.

The documents show Apple to have retained the services of ISP Lighting Design to provide the luminescence, Eckersley O'Callaghan to construct the glass staircase, and Flack + Kurtz to tackle the electrical wiring.

Documents also indicate the Cupertino-based company has leased three other spaces within the building at 77 King Street, including a storage area and conference room.

It's unclear when Apple hopes to begin operations out of the location, which was first confirmed by the Sydney Morning Herald on Wednesday.

Architectural Rendering of Apple Store Sydney at 77 King St.

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[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[wilco]

Crikey! What's all this then?

[archidude]

It is interesting that Apple's (and Pixar's) "architect partner," Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, also designed Bill Gate's Residential Compound in Bellevue, Washington. BCJ did the Gates Compound in joint venture with Cutler Anderson Architects.

[wirc]

Originally Posted by archidude

It is interesting that Apple's (and Pixar's) "architect partner," Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, also designed Bill Gate's Residential Compound in Bellevue, Washington. BCJ did the Gates Compound in joint venture with Cutler Anderson Architects.

Notably, all designed on Macs. I forget what CAD software they used but it seemed gimmicky, like it rendered things to look hand-drawn. VectorWorks is still the best, with ArchiCAD coming second.

[gugy]

Nice,
Congrats Australia.
Nice country and now Apple store. Humm, maybe I'll move down there. At least they don't have G. W. Bush.

[Buck]

I think it looks absolutely horrible and quite old-fashioned. What's with this black slab with glass "window" nonsense? Uh. These just don't look Apple at all.

[ALPICH]

You are right we don't have G. W. Bush. We have a guy that might as well be Bush's right pocket. Really it is no different in Australia. The main difference is that our issues are in proportion to our size.

Originally Posted by gugy

Nice,
Congrats Australia.
Nice country and now Apple store. Humm, maybe I'll move down there. At least they don't have G. W. Bush.

[polyester]

It's a shame there's no spiral staircase. I like them best.

[MacMark]

Originally Posted by Buck

I think it looks absolutely horrible and quite old-fashioned. What's with this black slab with glass "window" nonsense? Uh. These just don't look Apple at all.

Buck,

Are ya smokin' crack? That's the existing building front! The street level part at the bottom is what they are adding. Just like most of their stores.

[timgr007]

Please note that the proposed location is on the corner of George and King Streets which is in the centre of the CDB not on King Street Wharf. Consequently, it isn't exactly in a 'spectacular maritime setting' and in fact it would not be possible to see any of the harbour from this Apple Store.

[ALPICH]

For too long us Apple followers in Australia have been forced to worship at small Apple Chapels who were only loosely connected to the Apple faith. Now we will have our very first Apple Cathedral. A place we can all pay homage to. Where we too get a floating Apple logo behind Shinny Glass. Praise Be To Apple


Oh and just in case.. I am a Christian and am hoping God has a sense of humour. Maybe I should stop talking about apple as if it is a god and more of a minor prophet... Hey that will work

[jbcaro]

Originally Posted by Buck

What's with this black slab with glass "window" nonsense?

Looks like a giant touch screen.

j

[sennen]

Originally Posted by ALPICH

You are right we don't have G. W. Bush. We have a guy that might as well be Bush's right pocket. Really it is no different in Australia.

hehe, you beat me to it! we have the 'mini-me' of george dubya down here....

hopefully one day melbourne will get a real glass cube! :P

[bcharna]

no, it looks like a giant solar panel!

[bikerdude]

Originally Posted by gugy

Nice,
Congrats Australia.
Nice country and now Apple store. Humm, maybe I'll move down there. At least they don't have G. W. Bush.

Mate, we have a bloke called John Howard, he may as well be G Dubbya's running mate in most things, has happily left a citizen of ours called Hicks sitting in your Cuban detention centre for more than five years just to keep Gearge happpy.

I am not saying this bloke hasn't been a bad boy, but 5 years is wayyyyy to long to be detained without trial. He has only just been charged with certain terrorism offences from your end relating to the war in Afghanistan it it will probably be another year before he see a court house.

Most of John Howards rhetoric comes staright from George W's teet.

Australia is a great place but our federal government has more than a few failings.

[dbakkers]

This Apple Store will send a lot of the resellers around Sydney broke. You remember resellers; the people that worked tirelessly to build Apple's brand name and customer loyalty for the past 20 years
Over the past 10 years, Apple has promised their channel partners they'd NEVER sell via retail, NEVER sell directly and NEVER open their own stores. Oh well, it was just a gentleman's agreement, nothing in writing.
Computer resellers have felt the noose tightening around their neck for years.... their suppliers are now competing against them and Apple is no different.
- Apple restrict supplies to them to make sure Apple stores aways have stock and everyone else goes without.
- Resellers are no longer privy to forthcoming product releases and are often caught with old stock that they have to sell at a loss.
- Apple monitor the reseller's sales and have no issues sending one of their own staff to a reseller's customer to sell directly, but only if the sale is big enough.
- Soon Apple are going to take the name 'Apple Centre' away their businesses, and all the goodwill they'd built too.
Am I shedding a tear for the resellers ? No. It's been a lot of fun along the way and the current situation is just a reflection of the changing nature of the computer industry. The days of computers being a 'premium' item with good profit margins are over. Combine this with a consumer society that demands more features, more performance and better service for always lower prices, and you get the current 'build as many as possible in the cheapest country available' scenario.
Apple items are mass produced, consumable electrical items that with a built-in life span and planned redundancy that are churned out in the cheapest country possible, using the same parts (and probably on the same production line) as the Yogi Bear brand PC for sale at the local Aldi and right next to the no name brand biscuits and washing powder..... no different than a TV, washing machine or toaster.
Next time you go to your local reseller and find the doors closed and the shop for lease, look back favorably on the good times and move on.

[sunilraman]

Originally Posted by dbakkers

This Apple Store will send a lot of the resellers around Sydney broke. You remember resellers; the people that worked tirelessly to build Apple's brand name and customer loyalty for the past 20 years
Over the past 10 years, Apple has promised their channel partners they'd NEVER sell via retail, NEVER sell directly and NEVER open their own stores. Oh well, it was just a gentleman's agreement, nothing in writing.
Computer resellers have felt the noose tightening around their neck for years.... their suppliers are now competing against them and Apple is no different.
- Apple restrict supplies to them to make sure Apple stores aways have stock and everyone else goes without.
- Resellers are no longer privy to forthcoming product releases and are often caught with old stock that they have to sell at a loss.
- Apple monitor the reseller's sales and have no issues sending one of their own staff to a reseller's customer to sell directly, but only if the sale is big enough.
- Soon Apple are going to take the name 'Apple Centre' away their businesses, and all the goodwill they'd built too.
Am I shedding a tear for the resellers ? No. It's been a lot of fun along the way and the current situation is just a reflection of the changing nature of the computer industry. The days of computers being a 'premium' item with good profit margins are over. Combine this with a consumer society that demands more features, more performance and better service for always lower prices, and you get the current 'build as many as possible in the cheapest country available' scenario.
Apple items are mass produced, consumable electrical items that with a built-in life span and planned redundancy that are churned out in the cheapest country possible, using the same parts (and probably on the same production line) as the Yogi Bear brand PC for sale at the local Aldi and right next to the no name brand biscuits and washing powder..... no different than a TV, washing machine or toaster.
Next time you go to your local reseller and find the doors closed and the shop for lease, look back favorably on the good times and move on.

This has strong elements of truth in it, yet I don't think things are so dire for resellers in Apple Australia. While the noose has tightened, Macs are far from being something dumped to clear at Aldi.

Apple Australia have rammed one tightly up the arse of every Apple reseller in Australia. But Sydney has just one flagship store. Tons of people aren't going to go right down into the heart of the city just to buy Mac stuff.

"Am I shedding a tear for the resellers ? No. It's been a lot of fun along the way and the current situation is just a reflection of the changing nature of the computer industry."

I am not sure if you are serious, if you actually worked for a reseller you wouldn't be so flippant?

Maybe my sensitivity lies in hoping to work selling Macs at some stage. Maybe that will never happen, and maybe, life goes on, and business is business.

Losing the "AppleCentre" moniker is terrible though. That's truly fracking tragic, the resellers that signed up under AppleCentre have put *a hell of a lot* of effort, as you mention, into being the premium resellers, surpassing the NextByte chain along the way...

[sunilraman]

Hi Kasper and friends, Please adjust as poster above mentioned, it is *not* King St Wharf. See picture below. Yup, no spectacular maritime setting. Nice building and solid CBD location, nonetheless.

[sunilraman]

[JeffDM]

Originally Posted by timgr007

Please note that the proposed location is on the corner of George and King Streets which is in the centre of the CDB not on King Street Wharf. Consequently, it isn't exactly in a 'spectacular maritime setting' and in fact it would not be possible to see any of the harbour from this Apple Store.

Facts aren't supposed to get in the way of a story. Haven't you heard this?

[ajmas]

While the revamp of the building looks interesting, the look of the existing building is not something to write home about. In the end you try what you can.

[Porchland]

Originally Posted by Buck

I think it looks absolutely horrible and quite old-fashioned. What's with this black slab with glass "window" nonsense? Uh. These just don't look Apple at all.

It's a giant widescreen iPod model. I am not kidding.

[sunilraman]

Note that Apple Australia HQ has moved from somewhere North Sydney into the Hilton Building (the renovated/ refurbished one) on Pitt Street, just 500m south of the future flagship Apple Store location.

[sunilraman]

Originally Posted by ajmas

While the revamp of the building looks interesting, the look of the existing building is not something to write home about. In the end you try what you can.

Yeah, the existing building is not that super great, but yeah, it's the transparent glass frontage that makes it an Apple Store flagship style, besides there's a ton of other high-rise office buildings that are just *meh* around the CBD anyway. From ground level, clearly the Apple Store will stand out like a glittering jewel... of Mac heaven-ness.

[sunilraman]

Originally Posted by JeffDM

Facts aren't supposed to get in the way of a story. Haven't you heard this?

8) King Street Wharf is cool, I spent a bit of time in 2003/2004 as it was just launching. There was a bar where we watched some World Cup rugby or something. And a bit of food and alcoholic beverages at the Bungalow or something looking out over the "spectacular maritime setting", nice.

I'm sure Kasper and gang will edit the article once the weekend is over. Hopefully.

[sunilraman]

[cross-post, bear with me]
Just IN: Apple Australia has announced a rebranding in line with their flagship Apple Store Openings: (image)

[sud35]

This will come as welcome relief for most Mac Sydneysiders that work in the CBD. A couple of weeks ago, I walked into my nearest Apple store's service dept (about 12 blocks away, the new one will be 3 blocks away!), they had signs up everywhere that said "any machine left for service will not be looked at for at least 8-10 working days", I walked straight out, I can't be without my laptop for that long. Hopefully the service dept in the "Apple" store will be a real "service" dept, bring it on!

[sunilraman]

Originally Posted by sud35

This will come as welcome relief for most Mac Sydneysiders that work in the CBD. A couple of weeks ago, I walked into my nearest Apple store's service dept (about 12 blocks away, the new one will be 3 blocks away!), they had signs up everywhere that said "any machine left for service will not be looked at for at least 8-10 working days", I walked straight out, I can't be without my laptop for that long. Hopefully the service dept in the "Apple" store will be a real "service" dept, bring it on!

Totally. I can't be without my laptop now for even a few days. 1 calendar week for the techs at AppleCentre Malvern (outer Melbourne) to look at the fan and replace the LCD, was painful enough. They were great though, it was over the AustraliaDay holiday so from dropoff to pickup it was 4 working days inclusive.

Apple Store official Sydney & Melbourne will probably introduce ProCare which AFAIK is not offered in Australia, unlike the Apple Store official shops in US and UK.

[sunilraman]

Originally Posted by sud35

This will come as welcome relief for most Mac Sydneysiders that work in the CBD. A couple of weeks ago, I walked into my nearest Apple store's service dept (about 12 blocks away, the new one will be 3 blocks away!), they had signs up everywhere that said "any machine left for service will not be looked at for at least 8-10 working days", I walked straight out, I can't be without my laptop for that long. Hopefully the service dept in the "Apple" store will be a real "service" dept, bring it on!

Try Taylor's Square in Surry Hills - just several blocks up from Hyde Park. It's a fairly big-ish setup as you probably know. (?)

[ShadowMac]

I know the location well - it was a Westpac branch - I haven't worked in the city few a few years, so I didn't know it as closed.

Very solid, traditional old building - but they have their work cut out for themselves. Can't wait to see what they do with it.

For non-Sydneysiders, it's one street over from the Pitt Street Mall, right in the centre of the CBD, and will get plenty of pedestrian traffic. It will engender a lot of good will if it spruces the look of the general area up a bit. Westpac did nothing with it as they have a number pf flagship branches in the area.

[sud35]

Originally Posted by sunilraman

Try Taylor's Square in Surry Hills - just several blocks up from Hyde Park. It's a fairly big-ish setup as you probably know. (?)

AppleCentre TS have always been good to me, nice guys. They've moved up to Bondi Junction now, which is a bit more of a hike, I only just realised a couple of days ago though, that their service dept is still at Taylor Square, so I'll have to pop in (I only wanted someone to test my Superdrive, it's new but not working). On the whole though, I've found the whole computer service industry (not just Mac) to be a bit hit and miss, mostly miss.

Back to main topic, the site they've chosen will be ideal, lots of people work and shop in that area. I would've liked to have seen them in the old Gowings building (as first rumoured here early last year?) , one block closer to me and right in the heart of the shopping district.