Apple Proposing a Massive Glass-Roofed Retail Store on the Third Street Promenade

[mac1984user]

I could have sworn Borders was on a corner on Third Street Promenade. This image makes me doubt my memory.

Either way, like others, I'm very curious how an all-glass ceiling will do in terms of light hitting LCD screens and detracting from their 'glory'. Also, it will be extremely difficult to keep all that glass clean. Imagine in three years, when sun and grime has taken its toll. Finally, with the sun beating down on the store all day, they'll have to make up for it with some kind of 'magical' glass or loads of air conditioning, which seems a bit impractical, if not wasteful.

[adder7712]

Probably the store is self-sufficient.

Harvest its own power for a/c.

[Jett0516]

I would hate to work there

[kdarling]

Not the first place I'd choose be in during an earthquake.

(My little brother lost his condo in the '94 Northridge/Santa Monica earthquake.)

[mac1984user]

Originally Posted by Steve121178

I fully agree, but shards of razor sharp glass is a lot more dangerous than bricks & concrete.

Ya...bricks and concrete just crush you to death, whereas glass will slice and dice you to death. Take your pick, I suppose. If the earth started to shake, I'd just climb under one of those wooden tables, or rush outside (considering how packed Apple stores usually are, this will likely be difficult to do).

[GregAndonian]

If they're going to build stores like this, they shouldn't throw any stones...

[ArdBuijsen]

Originally Posted by Bluefusion

For everyone complaining "BUT WHAT ABOUT ALL THOSE GLOSSY SCREENS?!?!", this is exactly the same design as the Upper West Side (NY) Apple Store, which I worked at for just under a year. (The only difference is it's all on one floor.)

And yes, it was bright in the daytime. It was also friggin' beautiful.

Granted, our Genius Bar was downstairs, but the point still stands-- it would have been wonderful for us Genii to get some fresh light and air!

Apple has extensive experience with getting their heating/cooling costs under control. No one EVER felt the UWS store was too hot-- most people thought it was much too cold-- and it was rumored to have some kind of solar/photovoltaic cells in the roof to help with power. It also definitely has some kind of UV barrier that reflects certain kinds of light.

It's been working for them for almost two years-- certainly they've planned for California light, too.

Making it too cold is not so difficult. Just 'fire' up the cooling system. You seem to forget that the NY store (which is indeed more or less completely the same architecturally, is in the middle of Manhattan and so most of the day will be most likely in the shade of other buildings which are adjacent.

[jonnysods]

I like the ideas, but there are a few concerns (and I'm sure they have thought of these)

• earthquakes
• hot house? You'll bake in there?
• will you be able to see anything without wearing sunglasses?
• what about looking at a 27" iMac with the sun glaring on it?

[Duncanreally]

"The applicant also intends to implement a transportation program for employees to travel to and from the store using alternative modes of transportation. Full-time employees will be offered $100 monthly transit subsidy and a $20/month bicycle reimbursement subsidy as well as bicycle parking in the basement level."

Why do bike riders get less than those who use public transit? Both should be encouraged over driving, but biking is pretty expensive in equipment etc. Perhaps it would be fairer to buy employees a bike or a bus pass, and they get to choose.

[Day48]

You all are ridiculous! Apple isn't stupid! Apple didn't have MacRumors post this to get our feedback and bring out pros and cons...They obviously know about earthquakes, heat, sunlight. (I hope they planned for Tsunamis and forest fires!)-[*sarcasm] I mean seriously, they hire the best architects out there I am sure. They are sitting on $76 Billion in cash and securities what is to stop them from making this possible?

[AdeFowler]

Love all the experts on here. I bet Apple's architects are glad they stumbled on this thread

Besides, I think it's a Microsoft store.

[Day48]

Originally Posted by AdeFowler

Love all the experts on here. I bet Apple's architects are glad they stumbled on this thread

Besides, I think it's a Microsoft store.

Thank you! +1

[B J M]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_4 like Mac OS X; en-gb) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8K2 Safari/6533.18.5)

Regardless of what type of glass they use, I feel sorry for the (genius's?) who have to work there daily and will probably have to wear sunglasses to work

[CplBadboy]

Is there a release today?? I cant access any Apple store in any country @ 1342 BST?????? New Magic mouse maybe????

[ChrisTX]

Originally Posted by tabasco70

Can't just be assuming Howard Robinson isn't the one behind all those fake Apple Stores in China... maybe he's looking to move operations to Cali

I get the sarcasm, but I don't think anyone out there would have balls big enough to open a fake Apple store in Apples own backyard. If they do, may God have mercy on them! lol.

[Gasu E.]

Originally Posted by ArdBuijsen

So Apple rightfully doesn't install Flash because it is a energy hog but they have a building designed which doesn't function without a tremendous cooling system which is a much bigger energy hog.

Apple doesn't install Flash because it is a battery drain on portable devices. There will be no batteries running this Store, and the building probably is not intended to be portable. So, bad analogy there.

As far as energy use is concerned, I'll reserve judgement until I see the actual building design,

[CplBadboy]

Its definitely down. My money is on a refreshed MM with Lion integration and that wireless charging integrated from Mobee. Has Apple bought them over? Interesting!

[FriarNurgle]

Apple Stores are on my "No" list for zombie survival locations.

[Gasu E.]

Originally Posted by Duncanreally

"The applicant also intends to implement a transportation program for employees to travel to and from the store using alternative modes of transportation. Full-time employees will be offered $100 monthly transit subsidy and a $20/month bicycle reimbursement subsidy as well as bicycle parking in the basement level."

Why do bike riders get less than those who use public transit? Both should be encouraged over driving, but biking is pretty expensive in equipment etc. Perhaps it would be fairer to buy employees a bike or a bus pass, and they get to choose.

It's an excellent question. The goal is not to compensate employees for expenses but to incent them to make the change. I would guess that the belief is that people who would potentially bike to work already own bikes, would like to bike to work, and just need a small nudge to push them over. On the other hand, public transit subsidies are meant to appeal to the much larger group of people who might be pushed into giving up the flexibility of driving for public transportation.

[applefan289]

Originally Posted by CplBadboy

Is there a release today?? I cant access any Apple store in any country @ 1342 BST?????? New Magic mouse maybe????

Same here. When I click on store nothing happens.

[tonythejetsfan]

Originally Posted by bchreng

Wouldn't all that light shining down make it a little difficult to see what's being displayed on the LCD panels of the various products?

The store near Lincoln Center in NYC has a glass ceiling. I was in there on a sunny day recently and the screens on the ipads and iphones were hard to see. It's particularly difficult if you're wearing sun sensing prescription glasses because they darken in the bright light adding to difficulty.

There's a park near the Brooklyn Bridge where they constructed a playground with large dark objects made of metal for the kids to climb on. They get so hot on sunny day's the kids were getting serious burns. Last I heard they said that they had anticipated that might be a problem but the trees and greenery that they planned to use to shade these areas had not grown in enough before they opened the playground.

Maybe Apple needs to plant some trees in these stores!

[ArtOfWarfare]

Originally Posted by Day48

You all are ridiculous! Apple isn't stupid! Apple didn't have MacRumors post this to get our feedback and bring out pros and cons...They obviously know about earthquakes, heat, sunlight. (I hope they planned for Tsunamis and forest fires!)-[*sarcasm] I mean seriously, they hire the best architects out there I am sure. They are sitting on $76 Billion in cash and securities what is to stop them from making this possible?

You're aware that the staff of MacRumors is in no way related to the staff of Apple? Once in awhile, Apple requests MacRumors to take something down, but that's the only direct influence Apple has... Other than press releases, I suppose.

[applefan289]

The Apple Store is down.

Just wanted to say it again because no one seems to be commenting.

[DakotaGuy]

What I would like to know is if this glass building and their store in New York will be or are LEED certified? If Apple is supposed to be as responsible about the environment as they claim everything they build should be focused more on efficiency then looks.

[Sora]

Originally Posted by Ahheck01

If the ceiling glass is auto-dimming, color me impressed.

That would be AWESOME!!!