An outstanding roof houses the huge glass walls that overlook the Apple Sanlitun “open and cozy” foster store in Beijing, China.
Located in a giant open square in Sanlitun, a domain of the capital’s Chaoyang District, construction replaces China’s first Apple Store built next to 2008.
Apple Sanlitun evolved through Foster and Partners in collaboration with Apple. It has twice the length of the original shop and is located on a larger site in the square.
It was designed with a “porous construction envelope” available on all 4 sides and prominent through a 10 meter glass-paneled window at the top to minimize the boundary between inside and outside.
“Apple Sanlitun is about being open and welcoming, visually and metaphorically,” said Stefan Behling, director of studio at Foster’s Partners.
“The shop is a position that connects the inside and outside,” he said.
Apple Sanlitun’s main glass facade is decorated with floral motifs and connected to giant stone walls surrounding the rest of the building.
Tree-lined glass spaces have also been installed at the back of the store to reflect those of the square and “further dematerialize the boundary between inside and outside”.
Overlooking the glassy spaces is a giant flat roof, designed through Foster and Partners for visitors to the hot summer sun and heavy rains, while maintaining amazing outlook on the square and herbal lighting inside.
The wood-covered roof at the bottom, such as apple Michigan Avenue and the studio’s Apple Iconsiam, and incorporated 390 square meters of photovoltaic panels into the most sensitive part to help offset the store’s energy consumption.
Inside, Apple Sanlitun’s interiors are spacious and uninterrupted, with a floor and a cantilevered upper point that descends to a deck.
This open design was achieved through a structural formula called the Truss Special Moment Frame that was designed to cope with seismic forces while allowing giant interior spaces without columns. This is the first time the formula has been used in Chinese architecture, according to Foster and Partners.
On the floor, 15 product tables and demonstrations are along the walls, along a personal meeting room for business visitors hidden through frosted glass.
At the rear, two giant stone stairs were placed in each aspect to advise visitors on the top floor, any of which is reflected on the outside with stairs in the square.
The shop’s Genius Grove, where visitors can get visitors and assist with their devices, was placed on the top floor next to the Forum.
The Forum, which will host Today at Apple sessions with artists and creatives from Beijing, descends to the panoramic platform that is with padded leather seats.
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