The recently completed Apple store located in the Dubai Mall is about more than just showcasing Apple’s products. Foster + Partners wanted to reinvent the traditional introverted idea of mall-based retail and replace it with one that’s more focused on looking outward at the surrounding urban landscape.
For this reason, Foster + Partners and the Apple design team decided to incorporate what is arguably one of the most impressive urban landscapes in the world into Apple Dubai Mall. Chief among the aspects turning the Dubai Apple Store into an outward looking experience is the 186-foot wide and 18-foot deep terrace. The terrace incorporates nine trees that sit in large, rotating planters that ensure each tree receives even sunlight. Seating for visitors is built into the planters. No other Apple Store in the world has a terrace like this, and it becomes even more unique when its views are taken into account.
The terrace provides views of the Dubai Fountain, the world’s tallest performing fountain, and the Burj Khalifa, the World’s tallest building. The terrace is also home to what Foster + Partners claims to be one of the world’s largest kinetic art installations: a reinterpretation of the traditional Arabic Mashrabiya. These Solar Wings shade the outside terrace during the day and open during the evening to connect visitors with the city. The architect calls the wings an “integrated vision of kinetic art and engineering” and says the motion of a falcon spreading its wings inspired the movement path.
Photo courtesy of Foster + Partners.
The wings are made entirely from carbon fiber and consist of multiple layers of tubes that form a dense net. This net of 340 carbon fiber rods allows people on both levels of the two-level store to see out, while the sunlight coming in is filtered and casts crosshatched shadows deep into the building’s interior. There are 18 wings in total and they take one minute to open or close. Each wing is 37.5-feet-tall and 10-feet-wide but weighs just one ton.
Customers can enter the store directly from Dubai Mall through full height, glazed pivoting doors on both levels. The lower level of the store is home to The Avenue, a specially designed area for accessories display. This area has a typical Apple Store look with display tables holding the latest products Apple has to offer. In addition to the “Genius Bar,” Apple Dubai Mall will have space to launch Apple’s new program “Today at Apple.” This program will employ “Creative Pros” that offer customers advice and training on photography, filmmaking, art, and design.
Apple Dubai Mall opened on April 27.
Photo courtesy of Foster + Partners.
Photo courtesy of Foster + Partners.
Related Stories
| Dec 17, 2010
Toronto church converted for condos and shopping
Reserve Properties is transforming a 20th-century church into Bellefair Kew Beach Residences, a residential/retail complex in The Beach neighborhood of Toronto. Local architecture firm RAWdesign adapted the late Gothic-style church into a five-story condominium with 23 one- and two-bedroom units, including two-story penthouse suites. Six three-story townhouses also will be incorporated. The project will afford residents views of nearby Kew Gardens and Lake Ontario. One façade of the church was updated for retail shops.
| Nov 3, 2010
Chengdu retail center offers a blend of old and new China
The first phase of Pearl River New Town, an 80-acre project in Chengdu, in China’s Wenjiang District, is under way along the banks of the Jiang’an River. Chengdu was at one time a leading center for broadcloth production, and RTKL, which is overseeing the project’s master planning, architecture, branding, and landscape architecture, designed the project’s streets, pedestrian pathways, and bridges to resemble a woven fabric.
| Nov 1, 2010
Sustainable, mixed-income housing to revitalize community
The $41 million Arlington Grove mixed-use development in St. Louis is viewed as a major step in revitalizing the community. Developed by McCormack Baron Salazar with KAI Design & Build (architect, MEP, GC), the project will add 112 new and renovated mixed-income rental units (market rate, low-income, and public housing) totaling 162,000 sf, plus 5,000 sf of commercial/retail space.
| Nov 1, 2010
Vancouver’s former Olympic Village shoots for Gold
The first tenants of the Millennium Water development in Vancouver, B.C., were Olympic athletes competing in the 2010 Winter Games. Now the former Olympic Village, located on a 17-acre brownfield site, is being transformed into a residential neighborhood targeting LEED ND Gold. The buildings are expected to consume 30-70% less energy than comparable structures.
| Oct 12, 2010
The Watch Factory, Waltham, Mass.
27th Annual Reconstruction Awards — Gold Award. When the Boston Watch Company opened its factory in 1854 on the banks of the Charles River in Waltham, Mass., the area was far enough away from the dust, dirt, and grime of Boston to safely assemble delicate watch parts.
| Oct 6, 2010
From grocery store to culinary school
A former West Philadelphia supermarket is moving up the food chain, transitioning from grocery store to the Center for Culinary Enterprise, a business culinary training school.
| Sep 16, 2010
Gehry’s Santa Monica Place gets a wave of changes
Omniplan, in association with Jerde Partnership, created an updated design for Santa Monica Place, a shopping mall designed by Frank Gehry in 1980.
| Sep 13, 2010
3D Prototyping Goes Low-cost
Today’s less costly 3D color printers are attracting the attention of AEC firms looking to rapidly prototype designs and communicate design intent to clients.
| Aug 11, 2010
CTBUH changes height criteria; Burj Dubai height increases, others decrease
The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH)—the international body that arbitrates on tall building height and determines the title of “The World’s Tallest Building”—has announced a change to its height criteria, as a reflection of recent developments with several super-tall buildings.
| Aug 11, 2010
Swiss Farms to open drive-thru grocery
Swiss Farms, America’s drive-through grocer, will unveil its new prototype store designed by retail design and branding firm, Chute Gerdeman Retail. The new store, in Ridley Township, Pa., features a new brand identity, an eye-catching barn motif and 21st century touches, including LED displays that tie merchandise offerings to the weather forecast.
