Apple is building a new store in Chicago whose roof resembles a MacBook Air laptop. The store, which is located on Michigan Avenue at Pioneer Court, bears a silver rectangular roof which looks like the MacBook Air’s aluminum lid. Apple is yet to disclose when the store which is costing $27 million to construct will open though sources indicate it could be in October this year.
The design of the new retail store is credited to Foster + Partners, an architectural firm based in London, which is also responsible for design the headquarters of the iPhone maker in Cupertino, California. The store which measures approximately 20,000 square feet is almost complete. For about an hour construction crew placed a log on the roof though they later rolled it up before taking it away.
Carbon fiber roof
Other features of the new Apple store in Chicago includes a carbon fiber roof and glass walls.
“We wanted the building to be as light and transparent as possible,” Foster + Partners’ partner, James McGrath, said.
The glass walls which are transparent to allow a view of the river, reach a height of 14 feet at the street level and a height of 32 feet close to the river. They are made of four layers of thick glass each measuring half an inch. The glass walls also possess laminated glass that does not bend in the case of strong wind and neither does it break when hit. However, the glass walls can crack. The roof, on the other hand, has a thickness of four feet at the widest point and 4 inches where reaches its narrowest size.
New elements
The new Chicago store will possess a couple of new Apple store elements that were introduced at a flagship store of the tech giant in San Francisco, California. This will include a place for gathering which can also host classes and events, an outdoor plaza, indoor ficus trees and windowlike displays for exhibiting products.
The new store will be biggest one for Apple in the state of Illinois. It is expected that the new store will be boost for retail traffic especially with the new elements.
