Santa Monica Apple Store with glass roof given swift approval

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Comments

  • Reply 21 of 33
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    1) I suppose they'll have some employees on the roof daily to remove debris and squeegee.



    2) Nothing makes a product look better than natural light. The fluorescent lights in most stores might be inexpensive but they wash out the colours. This is why Apple, focused on energy efficiency still uses halogen lights in their stores to mimic natural wavelengths.







    Because giant pieces of curved glass used a ceiling are easy to engineer¡



    Easier than a flat piece of steel??????

    Yes, natural light is good as long as it is dispersed, similar to a photography soft box. Glaring full sun, not so good. They could do the same with strategically placed clerestory,fiber optic light pipes, or skylights.
  • Reply 22 of 33
    tenobelltenobell Posts: 7,014member
    How would any of that be the same as having a ceiling made entirely of glass?



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by smartin684 View Post


    Easier than a flat piece of steel??????

    Yes, natural light is good as long as it is dispersed, similar to a photography soft box. Glaring full sun, not so good. They could do the same with strategically placed clerestory,fiber optic light pipes, or skylights.



  • Reply 23 of 33
    flaneurflaneur Posts: 4,526member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by smartin684 View Post


    Easier than a flat piece of steel??????

    Yes, natural light is good as long as it is dispersed, similar to a photography soft box. Glaring full sun, not so good. They could do the same with strategically placed clerestory,fiber optic light pipes, or skylights.



    I think he was joking about the "easier to engineer" part.



    I promise you that when this store opens, I will check out your glare fears for you in person, assuming you don't live in the area yourself.



    If you do live in the area, it would be prudent of you to see how it works with your own eyes, rather that paint yourself into a corner on this.



    They do know what they are doing, it seems. Glass is a fantastic way for a building to connect with the environment. Always has been, but now it can be done on a larger scale, thanks to certain visionaries -- who incidentally have a lot of money, now that they've figured out how to sell great, helpful stuff to the whole world.
  • Reply 24 of 33
    ajmasajmas Posts: 601member
    This is going to be a like a greenhouse and in turn costly in air conditioning. It would have been nice if they had lined the top of the roof with slats that reduce direct sunlight, but allow light in. Apple has the money so how about creating environmentally sound buildings. I am thinking something like this, but on the roof:



    http://www.architectmagazine.com/Ima...m20-142513.jpg
  • Reply 25 of 33
    citycity Posts: 522member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by smartin684 View Post


    You are right, but I wonder if Apple is paying any employee parking? That would be interesting to find out. If you bicycle to work, you also get a $20/month tax credit from the federal government. Thats $40/mo to bicycle to work. The problem is that the store is in SM. I dont know of many retail employees that can afford to live within bicycle distance of the 3rd street, unless they are living in some hole in Venice. I sure hope they provide showers for the employees too! I used to bicycle to work from Culver City to West Hollywood/Sunset and I was glad I had a place to take a quick shower.



    The new Expo line is under construction. The City of Santa Monica has successfully promoted the building of many affordable housing units.
  • Reply 26 of 33
    yvo84yvo84 Posts: 84member
    It's rather symbollic that it's replacing the Borders store.
  • Reply 27 of 33
    haggarhaggar Posts: 1,568member
    What about the existing Santa Monica store:



    http://www.apple.com/retail/thirdstreetpromenade/



    When you go to www.apple.com, there is a Store link in the bar at the top of the page. I imagine that people looking for Apple retail stores would first click on that link. But that link only shows the online store. I can't believe their Store page does not include a link to their retail stores.
  • Reply 28 of 33
    nvidia2008nvidia2008 Posts: 9,262member
    I like the curved glass, but in the renderings the cross-beams seem a little ugly, to be honest. As for 3rd Street Promenade, speaking as a tourist, that's pretty much a key part of Santa Monica. Unless you want to just walk around and gawk at the houses. The pier and the beach is nice too of course, for foreigners who have had Baywatch burned into our brains by the idiot tube.



    But I've rambled on enough this morning...
  • Reply 29 of 33
    Anyone else notice there's no Apple logo sign in these renderings? Any precedent for that?



    This store looks somewhat similar to the UWS store in NYC, which also has a glass roof. of course, the NYC store has tall buildings all around, although that may not make too much of a difference.



    http://www.apple.com/retail/upperwestside/
  • Reply 30 of 33
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mynamehere View Post


    Anyone else notice there's no Apple logo sign in these renderings? Any precedent for that?



    This store looks somewhat similar to the UWS store in NYC, which also has a glass roof. of course, the NYC store has tall buildings all around, although that may not make too much of a difference.



    http://www.apple.com/retail/upperwestside/



    Nice catch. I don't think there is and would expect the plans do call for an Apple logo unless the city forbids logos, which I find doubtful.
  • Reply 31 of 33
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  • Reply 32 of 33
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by MacRulez View Post


    Probably so, and allowable because it may be that the city hasn't yet defined building codes to deal with glass roofs.



    But think about it: the entire LA area is riddled with earthquake faults, and in most quakes Santa Monica fares worse than many other communities, even ones much closer to the epicenter, because the soils there are largely sandy silts.



    Imagine what a glass roof does to a crowd of customers in a 7.0....



    I don't follow you. There are skyscrapers with glass in earthquake, tornado, hurricane areas all over the world. Why is it okay for these massive building with potential body slicing shards to be installed hundreds of feet above the ground of crowded city streets but not okay for Apple to build in low structure? I'm no engineer but I imagine glass for structure to be of certain strength specifically incase of a natural disaster.
  • Reply 33 of 33
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