A vigilant Apple store enthusiast in Houston (Tex.) have learned that the future Highland Village retail store will be a down-sized duplicate of the Upper West Side (NYC) store, including its remarkable arched glass roof. Tracy Evans noted the similarity on his blog and had a friend whip up a sketch. The Texas store is nearing completion on the city’s west side, and could open by next month. Like UWS, the store will feature an all-glass storefront, glass roof and Tennessee limestone side walls. Unlike UWS, the rear of the store will also be all-glass, similar to the design of the Scottsdale Quarter (Ariz.) store. Bu in this case, there will be an entrance at both ends. Back-of-house space is apparently provided in an adjacent space, not a basement. The future Palo Alto (N. Calif.) and Third Street Promenade (S. Calif.) stores—both expansions of existing stores—will also feature the UWS design, according to renderings submitted by Apple to city planning officials. However, the scale of the stores will be smaller than the original Upper West Side store that opened to rave architectural reviews in 2009.
This upper photo shows a detail of the future Highland Village curved roof supports during construction. The steel beams match those in the bottom photo showing the Upper West Side (NYC) store, including the curvature.
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Based on the amount of steel and concrete they put into the foundation structure (visible before the blacked-out scaffolding went up), you knew something really heavy was going up. Here is a photo of construction back in August. https://twitter.com/#!/JeffPeeps/status/103837574140919808
Yep, that’s definitely the steel structure that supports the limestone walls of a UWS-like store design. Thanks!
“Tracy Evans noted the similarity on her blog and had a friend whip up a sketch.”
Tracy Evans is actually a “him” not a “her”. Check your facts, even if they are the tiniest of details. It makes a difference.
Thanks…”him” corrected.
i thought it was common knowledge about the roof. they also have cooling built into the floor too over come the extreme texas heat.
Slight correction – There is a front and a rear entrance.
Thanks…I’ve corrected the story.
Can somebody tell me what was used in the ceiling to protect from the sun and heat. Ir schererbgarcia i can find tchnical data about it.
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