Stone, Glass, and Bamboo Meet in Foster + Partners' Recently-Opened Apple Store in Macau

Foster + Partners has published photographs of their recently-opened Apple Store in Macau, intended as a “new oasis of calm” against the city’s buzz and excitement. The store, opened on June 29th, was designed in response to a brief calling for “an inviting, contemplative space, where technology, entertainment, and arts come together to make a positive contribution to the city.”

Apple Cotai Central was designed in a close collaboration between Foster + Partners and Apple’s chief design officer Sir Jonathan Ive, a collaboration which has previously produced Apple stores at Michigan Avenue in Chicago, and Regent Street in London.

Stone, Glass, and Bamboo Meet in Foster + Partners' Recently-Opened Apple Store in Macau - More Images+ 3

Apple Store, Sands Cotai Central, Macau - retail floor inside the cube lantern with bamboo rising from the planters below. Image Courtesy of Nigel Young, Foster + Partners
Apple Store, Sands Cotai Central, Macau - interior with bamboo planters rising up through the cube lantern. Image Courtesy of Nigel Young, Foster + Partners

The Macau scheme takes the form of a “luminescent cube” with a pure geometry and warm “paper lantern” glow seeking to draw pedestrians through its bamboo grove and external event plaza. Upon entering, visitors are surrounded by glowing stone panels, shimmering by day in reaction to the sun, and softly radiating a warm glow at night to contrast with the bright lights of Macau.

Apple Store, Sands Cotai Central, Macau - interior at retail level with stone stairs descending from the cube. Image Courtesy of Nigel Young, Foster + Partners

An innovative glass-stone composite façade is comprised of five glazed layers integrated with thin layers of stone, creating a definable translucent stone materiality not dissimilar from stained glass. Three corner columns support a structural frame wrapped in mirrored stainless-steel which reflects the patterns and colors of the translucent stone façade.

We wanted to create something very simple and pure – a beautiful and elegant building that complements the sounds, sights, and colors of Macau while embodying a sense of clarity and quietude. The design creates two distinct spaces, one inside and one outside, imbued with a sense of authentic beauty arising from the innovative use of natural materials.
-Stefan Behling, Head of Studio, Foster + Partners

Apple Store, Macau, Sands Cotai - Interior of retail floor with bamboo planters cascading up the lantern. Image Courtesy of Nigel Young, Foster + Partners
Apple Store, Macau, Sands Cotai. Looking up into the light lantern framed with densely planted Bamboo. Image Courtesy of Nigel Young, Foster + Partners

The interior features a quiet bamboo grove placed under a soaring central atrium. Capped by a large central skylight with punched pyramidal apertures, the interior space is bathed with natural light enhanced by a ground floor glazed façade. The ground floor also features views towards a bamboo screen, evoking a sense of enclosure while forming a connection between inside and outside. At one end of the store, a 35 foot by 15 foot (10 meters by 4 meters) video wall sits adjacent to an axial entrance, enticing pedestrians inside.

Apple Store, Sands Cotai Central, Macau - stone staircase ascending with Apple logo. Image Courtesy of Nigel Young, Foster + Partners
Apple Store, Sands Cotai Central, Macau - interior retail space with glass-stone composite curtain wall with person. Image Courtesy of Nigel Young, Foster + Partners

The upper floor is accessed via two grand stone staircases lit by skylight strips. Display tables are arranged to maximize views of the central atrium’s bamboo grove, while the composite stone/glass façade creates a soft, calm, serene interior environment. Meanwhile, a second entrance on the upper level provides a stepped connection to the adjacent mall, while creating a visual connection to the ground level.

News via: Foster + Partners

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Cite: Niall Patrick Walsh. "Stone, Glass, and Bamboo Meet in Foster + Partners' Recently-Opened Apple Store in Macau" 02 Jul 2018. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/897443/stone-glass-and-bamboo-meet-in-foster-plus-partners-recently-opened-apple-store-in-macau> ISSN 0719-8884

Apple Store, Sands Cotai Central, Macau - exterior at night with the cube illuminated and bamboo planting framing the entrance with people. Image Courtesy of Nigel Young, Foster + Partners

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