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First Photos of Apple's New Covent Garden Retail Store in London

Nordichund said:
... Maybe the stores should sell exclusive t-shirts with the store's name on so customers could collect them as well. ...
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I think the official Apple announcement says the first few thousand(?) visitors on opening day will get a free T-shirt - presumably it'll be a special Covent Garden one. Bet they'll be going for a fair bit on eBay before the day's out.
 
Mmm I like tokin up around Covent Garden and wandering around aimlessly for ages, can see me spending an unnecessarily long time in the area now.

Great choice of venue far cooler and more laid back than Regent street store.
 
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Being that I work during the week, spending Saturday daytime in Covent Garden is not my idea of a good time... Frankly I think you're better off travelling 2 hours to Norwich and going to the store there! Less tourists, that's for sure.
 
It's a beautiful store. I wish they built stores like that in the U.S. instead of these class and aluminum blocks. That store has character.
 
Think the store looks great but cant believe the Apple logo hanging outside! Looks great viewed the right way- but terrible design to have it back-to-front from the other angle.

Think it would have been much better had the logo cutout been an illuminated white solid, with the logo the right way round from both sides...
 
moneyman118 said:
It's a beautiful store. I wish they built stores like that in the U.S. instead of these class and aluminum blocks. That store has character.
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I like both approaches. On the one hand, with older cities like London and Paris full of architecture that's protected, it's great to see Apple contributing to restoration and renewal. I love how the essence of a historic building can be preserved while introducing modern elements.

It has a downside though. plots that can be levelled completely to make way for something completely new are much rarer in London than in somewhere like,say, New York. Even if a completely new building gets the go-ahead in the City of London everything has to stop if they find some Roman remains as they're excavating the foundations.

In newer cities, Apple (and architects in general) have much more scope to create completely new buildings. I'd love for London to have something as iconic as the 5th Avenue cube but the planning application hops that something like that would have to go through in central London would be enormous.
 
jonnyb said:
I like both approaches. On the one hand, with older cities like London and Paris full of architecture that's protected, it's great to see Apple contributing to restoration and renewal. I love how the essence of a historic building can be preserved while introducing modern elements.

It has a downside though. plots that can be levelled completely to make way for something completely new are much rarer in London than in somewhere like,say, New York. Even if a completely new building gets the go-ahead in the City of London everything has to stop if they find some Roman remains as they're excavating the foundations.

In newer cities, Apple (and architects in general) have much more scope to create completely new buildings. I'd love for London to have something as iconic as the 5th Avenue cube but the planning application hops that something like that would have to go through in central London would be enormous.
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Try living in Japan where the nearest thing to antiquity is neon and you wouldn't be so flippant about heritage.
 
alexhooren said:
Think the store looks great but cant believe the Apple logo hanging outside! Looks great viewed the right way- but terrible design to have it back-to-front from the other angle.

Think it would have been much better had the logo cutout been an illuminated white solid, with the logo the right way round from both sides...
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It wouldn't have passed the strict planning regulations that are imposed on the buildings in that area. Illuminated store signs probably fall foul of the r.egulations
 
NightFox said:
Doesn't the Apple logo look so very wrong when it's reversed? (in the linked pictures)

I'm almost surprised Apple didn't invent some sort of Light Beam Distortion iDevice to ensure that the silhouetted Apple profile on the signs always faced the right way, whichever side you viewed it from.

:apple:

Edit: now I think about it, an iPad stuck behind each side of the logo cut-out, each with a rear-facing camera, errr.... something like that anyway...
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I totaly agree with you regarding the signs. They look very odd when viewing them from the back. I'm very surprised that they didn't make it so that the apple was viewable the right way from both sides.
 
MrSmith said:
Never had the need to visit an Apple store, but from the pics, with row upon row of the same machine, what else can they expect? Surely not for customers to walk along each aisle admiring iMac after iMac?
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Remember - the first hit is free...
 
jayducharme said:
I appreciate the time and effort Apple takes with the design of their stores. The thought put into them reflects the thought put into the design of their products. The only things that seemed out of place were the ceiling lights in the store. From the photos they look awfully harsh and industrial and don't really fit the look in the rest of the store.
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Let's hope the wifi keeps working when someone leans against one of the walls :D
 
Just on the off chance someone involved reads this...

Stand back and take a bow, it looks beautiful. Very delicate but precise. I don't know, but when I see these remarkable stores I feel part of something special. And for that I know the brand managers are doing one of the best jobs ever seen. This really is a ground breaking strategy. Again well done.

Judging by the exposed floors, walls & ceilings, they know this store is going to take a Massive amount of traffic, can you imagine the wear and tear in this location!

How long before the pigeons fly into the store and, well, you know what....!
 
Where is the iPhone Box? I want to see an Apple variation of the London phone box..

Next up is the iLondon Taxi.. and the iTube train ...

Also.. the iMimes and iBuskers that will appear outside the store..
 
elppa said:
From those photos it's not as nice as the new Paris Opéra store which just opened (and set a pretty high bar), but still nice all the same.

opera_gallery_image2.jpg
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I really wanna book an appointment here. Might cost me a bit to get there but hey!
 
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