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Revised plans for Apple's proposed flagship retail store in San Francisco's Union Square include new renderings of the location, reports SocketSite. The prospective store is now pictured to feature two full-height sliding glass panels standing 44 feet tall and 23 feet wide, allowing the building to be opened up to the street. The store will also include regular glass doors that would act as a primary point of entry when the larger doors are closed.

applestore_unionsquare_panelopen.jpg
Apple's revised design for new San Francisco flagship store

Apple originally filed plans last May to move its existing Stockton Street flagship store three blocks north, giving the store a larger footprint and prime location in the Union Square shopping district. However, the plans quickly ran into opposition as critics panned multiple aspects of the proposal, such as the idea to remove a sculptural fountain created by late sculpture artist Ruth Asawa and the installation of a 80-foot-long windowless wall along a key pedestrian and transit corridor. Soon after, city officials made clear that significant changes would be needed for the project if it was to receive approval.

Apple then filed revised plans in August to address some of the proposal's biggest criticisms, stating that it would keep the fountain, add an eight-foot wide window along the Stockton Street frontage, and move to pull the proposed glass wall of the store back by four feet to add a greater sense of depth and more shadows for visual interest.

apple_store_sf_union_square_large.jpg
Apple's original design for new San Francisco flagship store

City officials were reportedly pleased by Apple's proposed changes, although the project must still pass through full review before it can be approved. A part of that review will take place on Wednesday, February 5, as the San Francisco Historic Preservation Commission will meet to discuss Apple's request for a permit to construct the store. Apple has not announced when it plans to open the new store, and any internal targets may yet be affected by San Francisco's review and permitting processes.

Thanks, Cody!

Article Link: New Renderings of Apple's New Flagship San Francisco Store Reveal Massive 2-Story Sliding Glass Panels
 

TehFalcon

macrumors 65816
Jan 6, 2011
1,118
998
United States
Precisely what I was wondering. This sounds like a disaster. Hopefully there's more to this than we're seeing.

I'm 100% positive that the openings are not as tall as you can see, only the bottom area will open. Climate control can be done via bottom to top heating, and top to bottom cooling.
 

AngerDanger

Graphics
Staff member
Dec 9, 2008
5,452
29,002
As long as the new Apple store has biometric sensors and an all-day battery, I'll be happy with the next gen.
 

ferdinandcc

macrumors member
Jun 8, 2011
43
64
Caloocan City, Philippines
Pretty sure the first floor ceiling is angled, so that it tapers to come to a thin point in the front (like the thin edges of a MacBook Air or iMac) and that the second floor ceiling is angled to match the first floor ceiling. I seriously doubt that the renderers don't understand perspective.
 

MadExpat

macrumors newbie
Feb 1, 2014
1
0
UNbuildable Building!

This is unbuildable and extremely misleading.
Look at the thickness of the upper level ceiling plane - there is no depth for roof structure, lighting, air conditioning, etc. It's a quite ridiculous rendering for the architects to have produced, particularly for public viewing!
 

snowman1

macrumors regular
Mar 17, 2010
150
13
I agree.

Why isn't Apples "Flagship" store in their home town? Would make much more sense.

I remember Steve Jobs saying something about Cupertino not having enough foot-traffic to warrant a retail store. It's quite unfortunate because I'm from Cupertino and I would love to see an Apple Store in our city. :(
 

KiwiAdventure

Suspended
Dec 7, 2010
607
304
New Zealand
The design looks awful:mad:Surly Apple can come up with more fitting design than a glass box. I hope the local City Council step in and stop this type of awful building's.
 

meta-ghost

macrumors regular
Apr 9, 2002
230
0
San Francisco
No way in heck that glass is a single piece at 44' x 23' on a sliding panel.

The code required wind loads would prevent it.

Who is the Architect? Was it BCJ? I doubt it was Foster.

It will never be built like this.
 
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acslater017

macrumors 6502a
Jul 25, 2006
716
123
San Francisco Bay Area
I agree.

Why isn't Apples "Flagship" store in their home town? Would make much more sense.

This area is the largest shopping neighborhood in the most densely-populated and probably most tourist-trafficed area in the Bay Area.

A large store in Cupertino might be symbolic, but would make zero business sense. The headquarters has a small store that serves employees, visitors and pilgrims just fine. It's the same reason that WWDC is held in San Francisco. Cupertino is nice but is basically a sleepy residential town.
 

GregAndonian

macrumors 6502
Jul 31, 2010
344
0
Normally I roll my eyes when I see a story about Apple opening yet another store somewhere, but the saga of the blank walled San Francisco store and the fountain it nearly destroyed has been quite amusing.

Now they want the whole front panel of glass to open? As someone else said earlier, pigeons could be an issue here... :eek:
 

JPSaltzman

macrumors 6502
Jun 5, 2011
363
756
I smell Lawsuit the first time someone accidentally stumbles into the glass panels and it comes crashing down on him/her in a billion little pieces of glass.

Doesn't anyone remember those flowery decals you'd put on your sliding glass doors at home, so you wouldn't accidentally run through them and cut yourself to death? (Ack, I'm showing my age, I guess.)
 

HiRez

macrumors 603
Jan 6, 2004
6,250
2,576
Western US
The sad part is, it's just a really butt-ugly building. Come on, Apple, you can do better, much better. Throw this in the trash and start over. If I were an architect designing something in a city, I would ask myself "How will this building look in 10 years? What about 25 or 50 years?". I don't think this design holds up. If your answer to that question is "It doesn't matter because it'll probably be torn down by then anyway", you are probably a crappy architect.

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I remember Steve Jobs saying something about Cupertino not having enough foot-traffic to warrant a retail store. It's quite unfortunate because I'm from Cupertino and I would love to see an Apple Store in our city. :(

That's definitely the case. I mean Cupertino doesn't even really have a "downtown", it's just a sprawl of strip malls, restaurants and suburban residence. There's no focus to it. Nothing is easily walked to from anything else. And, there is already an Apple Store in Apple's HQ anyway.

San Jose might be a possibility, but San Jose's downtown is really dead, again no foot traffic anywhere near the level of SF's Union Square.
 
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