This two-room, pavilion-like store was designed for a unique location within Palo Alto’s Stanford Shopping Center. It is a fresh and evolutionary direction for the Apple retail program with a design that is a re-interpretation of the favorite architectural themes developed over the past 13 years, while retaining many of the familiar elements associated with Apple Stores. As expected, the Apple product is featured at the beginning of the customer experience, but at Stanford a broad, glass-enclosed room makes the retail environment feel a part of the outdoor plaza, and the outdoor plaza part of retail environment.
With 180 lineal feet of storefront glass and three entrances, rarely has an Apple Store been so visually recognizable and physically accessible. It is a store design that directly invites you in to experience the product and the space underneath a dramatically thin roof. Structural glass fins along the perimeter of the transparent room support the thin roof, leaving the space column-free and enhancing the sensation of a floating ceiling. As a counterpoint to the transparency and openness the front room, the back space, which is dedicated to service, training and shopping of accessories, is enclosed and calming.
A feeling of privacy and uniqueness supports the ambition for a place of gathering and learning, creating a special community room. Delicate stainless steel beams support the gentle arcing glass roof. A careful balance of a light tint, dot-patterned frit and a high-performance hard coating allows modulated daylight to fills the space while maintaining visual and thermal comfort year round.