Apple Store Thread ][

Great to hear they resolved the fire escape issue... it would just seem so typical for this great project to be derailed by something so lame. I can't wait for the new Apple Store.
 
Thanks for the report, Kz.
Has the design changed since the last rendering posted here?
 
No it hasn't. The two exterior renderings they had on display were ones we've all seen before.
 
Neighbors question Apple by Monica Collins

Apple will take a bite out of Boston ? specifically upper Boylston Street, where Apple Computer Inc. plans to construct a glass and steel cube that will look unlike any building the historic street has ever known.

The Apple corps of designers and architects came to town on Wednesday, October 4, to present their plans at a neighborhood meeting sponsored by the Boston Redevelopment Authority. They were a sleek army of efficiency with cool collapsible easels to hold their many renderings of what will grow into a big boxy store on Boylston. It?s a landmark in the making on what used to be the site of a low-tech copy store.

Bob Bridger, an Apple executive who, save for his shaved head, bears passing resemblance to founder Steve Jobs, declared his company?s yen for the Hub: ?I can?t say how much we want to be part of the Boston community.? He said the objective of Apple stores nationwide is ?really to add to our community.? To wit, Bridger promised one entire floor of the three-story Apple store will be devoted to free stuff. Technical questions will be answered ?without charge.? People will be able to take their Apple gadgets for gratis fixing and tune-ups. Bridger also said customers could bring digital photos in and get help creating DVDs and slide shows. ?We really look for our store to be a place for people to enhance their life through technology.?

A group of thirty or so interested Back Bay residents attended the hearing in a hall at Fisher College. There were many questions but few concrete answers as the project is still evolving, although the basic design and materials were approved in a split decision by the Back Bay Architectural Commission in August. Dennis Quilty, Apple?s Boston lawyer, gripped the coveted BBAC certificate of appropriateness firmly in hand and Apple representatives frequently referred to it when addressing queries.

Soft-spoken Karl Backus, the San Francisco architect who designed the Boston outlet, presented the scheme for the store. Basically, the theme is transparency. The fa?ade will be a double layer of the ?most transparent glass available,? framed vertically and horizontally by silvery steel burnished to a matte finish that echoes the metallic case of an Apple laptop. The only adornment facing the street will be a large white acrylic Apple logo.

The windows will not have shades, and temperature inside the store will adjust through a complex ?double skin system and thermal cavity chimney? to vent the heated air. The Apple store faces south and will inevitably get bombarded by natural light. Backus says there will also be green technology incorporated into the design, including a verdant rooftop of sedum, low-growing vegetation.

When it came time for the neighbors to voice their questions and concerns, the themes centered on internal lighting, signage, delivery truck congestion in the back alley along Newbury Street, garbage disposal and sidewalk stone. The garbage issue was disposed of most easily. Apple will place its dumpsters in the basement and not out behind the store.

However, the concerns about sidewalk stone, lighting and alley congestion were not assuaged. According to Bridger, the lighting plan in Apple stores is a work in progress, with constant situational adjustments, as have occurred at the New York Apple emporium on Fifth Avenue. As for the sidewalk stone, Backus said he is ?still working on paving.? Signage and colors will be contained within the store and displayed on the walls. Decorative plasma screens will not face the street.

The most difficult situation seems to be the alley congestion. How will cars and pedestrians jockey for the precious space with Apple?s truck fleet feeding product to the store? ?I hope you would work out something so cars could get by the trucks,? said Sue Prindle, a representative from the Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay. The plan for the alley is ?still evolving,? said Mark Nitkey, an Apple project manager. ?We will continue to listen to the neighborhood organization.?

The Apple store is not without its detractors. At the August meeting of the BBAC, Ali Rizvi, vice-chair of the Commission, denounced the project as not appropriate for the neighborhood. ?A glass building in this location sets the clock back twenty years,? he said and called it a ?parking garage aesthetic.? Ultimately, two of his fellow commissioners stood with him, but the bulk of the body voted to approve. After the BRA meeting, Sue Prindle said she ?believed in the process? that made way for an Apple to grow on Boylston.

Demolition of the old copy store at 815 Boylston will come first. ?We hope to start before the end of the year,? said Nitkey. Construction of the tri-level glassine box will then be continuous.

The BRA will continue to accept public comment on the Apple store until October 11. Contact John Fitzgerald, the city?s point man for the project, at 617-918-4267.

http://www.backbaysun.com/#ST69
 
backbaysun said:
The Apple store faces south and will inevitably get bombarded by natural light.
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BZZZ! WRONG!! Monica, did you fall asleep for 10 minutes of the 40 minute meeting? This was made abundantly clear that between the Mandarin and the Prudential Tower, the Apple store would in fact be in shadows much of the time. Either way, the architect incorporated the above-mentioned "thermal cavity chimney," which is essentially the space between the facade and the colums/beams, would take care of the heat by bringing it upwards to the ventilation system on the roof where it would be recycled into it
 
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is there anything westernized cultures do that isn't an insult to islam???

by that rational, anything cube-shaped would resembles the Ka'bala and would therefore be insulting? So Kendall Square must be sacrilege!

I find it perplexing that the most intolerant of the world's religions constantly harps on supposed insults to it, yet apparently has no problems condeming anybody and everyone else.
 
Huh, someone thinks you can buy drinks at the Genius Bar?

Also looks like someone confused the temporary construction facade with the real thing.
 
...

like a cartoon i saw recently, showing the pope, apologizing to moslems: "I'm sorry my comments about islam's violence incited muslim violence"

but really, its no laughing matter. these people want to do away with us and as incompetent as I believe Bush is, he's not THE reason why.
 
You can use an Apple computer to read Candide or to play a Life of Brian DVD. I recommend both to anyone who claims to be religiously offended.
 
The Pope was given a white I-pod Nano as a present, I guess all the Mullahs and Ayatollahs are jealous.
 
Redevelopment authority approves Boylston Street Apple Store
The Boston Redevelopment Authority today gave approval to Apple Computer Inc. to build a store near the Prudential Center.

Apple is proposing to demolish the building at 815 Boylston St., recently home to a Copy Cop store, and construct a three-story, 21,350- square-foot space with a glass facade and green roof.

The project also calls for sidewalk improvements along Boylston. Construction for the store is expected to last a year.
The proposal still needs to go before the city's Zoning Board of Appeals.

Apple has six stores in Massachusetts. This would be the company's first in Boston.
(By Jenn Abelson, Globe staff)


The Back Bay Architectural Commission backed preliminary designs for Boston's first Apple Store earlier this year.
 
Today they are taking down the blue awning, and I asked a guy on site when they'd start demo, to which he said "a few weeks."
 
This is from the Oct. 4th meeting. Apple exec Bob Bridger on the left, project architect Karl Backus of the firm Bohlin Cywinski Jackson on the right

apple1dh4.jpg
 
And something I just whipped up in Paintbrush

1st floor plan and elevations showing its relation to the Mandarin

 
The Globe said:
Boston zoning board approves new Apple store

Apple Computer Inc. has received approval from Boston's Zoning Board of Appeals -- the last hurdle needed to proceed on plans to build a new three-story store on Boylston Street near the Prudential Center.

Apple is proposing to demolish the building at 815 Boylston Street, which formerly housed a Copy Cop store, and construct a 21,350 square-foot space with a glass facade and green roof.

The zoning board's approval will be finalized in paperwork over the next month and Apple can then start applying for permits. Construction on the Back Bay store is expected to last a year.

(By Jenn Abelson, Globe staff)
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Link

This is just the news brief. There will probably be a longer story tomorrow.

Of course, I thought this already happened. :|
 
While this building is interesting because of its vaunted locale it seems to me a case of much adieu about nothing. After all it's just a computer store.

The building there now is horrible yet architects and neighbors quibble about tearing it down, all in the name of historical significance and preservation of the urban fabric. Neither the existing building nor the apple building proposed add much to that.
 
The neighbor to the east has a vested interest: his fire escapes illegally encroach on the property currently owned by, and soon to be built through, Apple.

He doesn't want this project at all, because he'll be forced to spend thousands fixing a problem that's existed for years.

Another trash-bag building owner who pays off the city inspectors rather than spending money to actually fix the problem.
 
:D

The Boston Globe said:
Stained Glass?
Boston's first Apple flagship store is coming soon to the Back Bay - a smooth, clear jewel box of a building - and it promises to be the Hub's most exciting piece of retail architecture in years. Its arrival shows that Boston wants contemporary design to blend in with the historic. But there may be a flaw - not in Apple's vision, but in the city's.

By Rachel Strutt | February 11, 2007

When Apple?s new boston flagship store opens its doors at 815 Boylston Street later this year, expect mania. Apple devotees, known for their fierce brand loyalty, approach store openings with the fervor of rock groupies. When a San Francisco flagship store opened in 2004, there were 1,200 people in line, many of whom had camped overnight. Last year, thousands attended the opening of New York?s Fifth Avenue store, where the company?s iconic logo was seen painted on women?s cheeks and shaved into the back of one boy?s head.

When this big Apple circus arrives in the staid Back Bay (the store could open by December), the people streaming in will see up close just how big a role a building can play in enhancing a brand. The shop represents the most exciting piece of retail architecture in the city since Frank Gehry renovated the Tower Records building on Newbury Street in 1989. Apple?s flagship stores, which are changing the way people think about retail, don?t just cater to shoppers, they cultivate a social experience ? and this store, like the others, is designed to draw a crowd.

With its glass facade and crisp, staunchly minimalist features, the three-story building will turn heads, especially when it is aglow at night, a luminous boxy beacon of modernity and commerce. In the center of the building, a glass staircase ? an engineering feat in itself and a trademark of the flagship stores ? will spiral beneath a large skylight. The governing aesthetic throughout the store will be one of light, airiness, and translucence. Mark Maloney, who stepped down as Boston Redevelopment Authority director last month, says: ?This building is going to have a wow factor. People will come to see this bright, shiny jewel box within a traditional neighborhood.?

Mayor Tom Menino, who has been a supporter of the project from the start, points out that the store will be within walking distance for many college students (Boston University and Berklee College of Music, for example) and close to other schools. ?It will be a gathering place for people,? he says, ?especially young people.?

But it will be much more than that. The building makes a statement about the city. Boston isn?t yet fully embracing contemporary architecture, but the store?s arrival shows the city is willing to experiment with it. It?s one thing to put a gorgeously innovative building such as the Institute of Contemporary Art down on the waterfront, where there?s a clean slate; it?s far riskier to put an unapologetically modern building in the historic Back Bay, not far from the neighborhood?s Victorian town houses and Gothic Revival columns.

That juxtaposition ? innovation amid preservation ? is part of an overall architectural philosophy that?s taking shape among city planners, who worked with Apple officials to scale back their boldly modern design so the store would fit in better with neighboring buildings. But how far this approach should go ? namely, how to temper the contemporary so it complements the historic ? is stirring debate. And as the city?s wave of new architecture continues, the most significant issue for officials to ponder, particularly for retail space, may not be how to blend the new with the old, but whether the new should be required to blend in at all.

Unlike your average Apple store, such as the ones at the CambridgeSide Galleria and the Chestnut Hill mall, the flagship store on Boylston is expected to offer numerous activities for shoppers. The company won?t discuss final details, but some of the plans described by the Boston Redevelopment Authority and some features at other flagship stores provide clues. For starters, there?s likely to be free wireless, so visitors can check e-mail and surf the Web. After browsing products on the first floor, customers can ascend the seductive glass staircase to the second floor ? where they can peruse more gadgetry and may be able to attend demonstrations on a variety of subjects. The third floor could offer free retail services, including a ?Genius Bar,? where an expert would be on hand to help solve tech problems. Hands-on experience will be encouraged throughout the store; computers will be hooked up to digital cameras and camcorders, for example, so shoppers can get a feel for hardware and software.

This retail concept of shopping as social experience isn?t new to the area ? just think of Jordan?s Furniture?s family-friendly Motion Odyssey Movie ride, which opened at the Avon store in 1992. But with its flagship store, Apple is pushing the concept. ?Traditionally, you went to a store, looked for a product, asked for price. You buy it or not,? says Nader Tehrani, a principal of the local architecture firm Office dA and an adjunct professor of the Harvard Graduate School of Design. ?That?s not the way Apple stores work. You go to check e-mails and keep up on technology. It?s a little bit like a school, a little bit like a coffee shop. In Europe, the idea of going to a coffee shop is that you sit there all day. Our notion of public space in America is rather impoverished. Starbucks changed that, and Apple adopts the same type of ethic. They?re pretty open to people hanging out.?

Like an iPod, iBook, or the recently unveiled iPhone, the 21,350-square-foot store itself ? it?s hard to resist calling it an iBuilding ? will be all about innovation, streamlined design, and easy navigation, from the overall layout to the most minute detail. Style, after all, plays a key role in how Apple connotes brand. In this way, the entire building, designed by the San Francisco office of the acclaimed firm Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, will function like one giant logo.

An eco-friendly roof will be blanketed with hardy vegetation designed to insulate the building in winter and keep it cool in summer. The building?s facade will consist of a series of glass panels that will stand 7 to 8 feet in front of its basic structure, a grid of two horizontal slabs intersected by two columns, all finished with matte stainless steel. The panels will feature low-iron laminated glass, which appears more lucent and doesn?t exhibit the faint blue or green hue of regular glass.

?It completely exposes inside outside,? says Prataap Patrose, deputy director for urban design at the Boston Redevelopment Authority. ?[Apple] wants to offer a very public type of retail. This is really good for Boston. Because we are such a pedestrian-oriented city, you want to see inside as you?re walking by.?

?I think the design looks terrific,? says local architect David Manfredi of Elkus/Manfredi Architects, a firm that has done extensive retail work nationwide and is involved in several major mixed-use developments in Boston. ?You don?t want to see a whole street get developed that way, but this is a great opportunity.?

It didn?t come without conflict. Apple Inc., based in Cupertino, California, had to fight for that opportunity. First, there was the question of the existing building at 815 Boylston ? a two-story 1906 structure, which most recently housed a Copy Cop. Last August, the Back Bay Architectural Commission agreed that the nondescript building was not architecturally significant and granted Apple the right to demolish it. The next hurdle came when the BBAC asked Apple?s architects to rework the initial design ? which was even more minimal than the current one ? so that it would be more harmonious with the flanking circa-1900 buildings. In the revised design, which the commission ultimately approved 6 to 3, Apple added the columns so the building would mirror the vertical aesthetic of its neighbors.

Ali Rizvi, a principal of C&R/Rizvi Inc. who was with the BBAC at the time of the vote, disagreed with both plans. He maintains that the building is wrong for the neighborhood. ?I felt it was inappropriate for a historic district to have a glass building,? he says. ?There are other cities where Apple design has been appropriate. Apple proudly claims on its website that they will do other things besides glass boxes. We never got a chance to see an alternative. What if Apple moves in 10 years? What if we have a building that permanently looks like an iPod??

At least one key player in the decision seems fine with that possibility. ?In the first six months, [the building] will stand out,? Menino says. ?Then it will blend right in, just like the [75] State Street building did,? he says, referring to the downtown office tower completed in 1988.

Still, some may ask: Is that what we really want?

The new Apple store joins a long list of contemporary buildings in Boston being designed by a who?s who of architects. In addition to the new ICA on Fan Pier, we have welcomed in recent years Rafael Vinoly?s adventurous 2004 convention center on the waterfront and the buildings of Frank Gehry and Steven Holl at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Moshe Safdie and Daniel Libeskind are slated to build new museums on the Rose Kennedy Greenway. Norman Foster is building an extension at the Museum of Fine Arts, and Renzo Piano has designed an addition for the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and submitted a design for the 1,000-foot tower that Menino hopes will soon pierce our skyline.

Although the Apple store certainly falls into a different category than museums, retail space can beautifully complement civic space and foster urbanism. ?Going back to Roman times, the marketplace, along with the civic institutions like libraries, provided towns with anchors,? says David Manfredi. ?Historically, markets are places where the community comes together. We live in an era where many of us seek community. Shopping brings a sense of togetherness.?

Speaking to the compromise between the BBAC and Apple that produced the final design, former BRA director Maloney describes the overall direction the city is taking with new architecture. ?We?re developing a style that will become known as a Boston style, in which tradition and historic community will always be considered,? he says. ?It will be contemporary architecture in a very appropriate context. The Apple store is a great example of that. . . . We wanted the Apple building to complement its flanking neighbors. We had to work very carefully with the BBAC to ensure this.?

But exactly how this ?Boston style? will be implemented in the future raises questions. The BBAC?s quest for architectural continuity might be justified on Newbury Street, which has a much richer and more consistent historical appearance. Yet, on a lackluster stretch of Boylston Street that already hosts a hodgepodge of historical styles, the desire to have a contemporary building blend in with a century-old aesthetic seems less relevant.

William Young, the BBAC?s senior preservation planner, thought the initial design would have stuck out like a ?missing tooth? on Boylston Street. But a more spare building would have been bolder ? and a better stylistic foil for the adjacent buildings. The approved design still promises a handsome contemporary building, but by adding the columns and thus creating a grid pattern, the spare elegance of the initial Apple design is sadly lost.

This question of how the building will commingle with its Boylston Street neighbors has been discussed not only at BBAC meetings but also online, most notably at archboston.com, a local architectural forum. There were archboston.com members who preferred the revised design with what one called the ?tic-tac-toe grid,? but others did not. Shortly after Apple unveiled its revised plans, one archboston.com member wrote, ?I think the resistance to letting [Apple] build what they want may result in a bland or ugly structure.?

?If a building is allowed to have its own voice, it can only enhance buildings around it,? says Nader Tehrani. ?When you resort to this pastiche and mimicry [of historical style], you destroy the meaning of the real historical fabric around you. If Boston aspires to uphold its historical place, it needs to acknowledge new methods of construction and design.? Doing this, he adds, will reinforce a larger sense of history by reflecting the city?s many distinct eras and styles, instead of just one monolithic idea of the past.

For an example of historical pastiche, look no further than the designs for the Mandarin Oriental Hotel complex, currently under construction across the street from 815 Boylston. A postmodern building with vaguely Art Deco lines, it?s not unattractive, and it?s certainly an improvement over, say, the faux historical Hotel Commonwealth in Kenmore Square. Yet, the Mandarin Oriental is not striking. It?s simply safe.

Ironically, it is perhaps because Boston is so blessed with a rich architectural history that we cannot see beyond it. We often let our beloved brick buildings define us completely ? whereas in European cities with architectural histories much longer and richer than ours (Berlin comes to mind), daring contemporary designs create a dynamic panoply of style.

There?s little doubt this shiny new retail temple will woo the masses ? Apple cultists, camera-toting archi-tourists, and the general public alike. And although it may seem silly to get worked up over a gadget shop coming to town, this Apple store marks an important architectural step forward for Boston. Sure, there are still those who would like to preserve the Back Bay like a mosquito trapped in amber. But the BBAC-approved design, though somewhat watered down from the original, still promises an exciting contemporary building that will inject Boylston Street with some much-needed panache.

The old-versus-new debate the store is generating is welcome. No one is saying a developer or architect should be able to plop down a building without input from the city. But the store just may prove that good design in a historic area does not have to be traditional, and persuade skeptics that, at least sometimes, it?s good for contemporary architecture to stand out among its elder neighbors ? not merely blend in with the crowd.

Rachel Strutt is a Somerville-based freelance arts journalist. E-mail her at rachelstrutt@yahoo.com.
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