New Boston Store Design

A story in the Boston Herald newspaper says Apple is scheduled to present the city’s Back Bay Architectural Committee with a new design for a 3-story retail store on Boylston Street that could open by 2007. An earlier design proposal was criticized by the Committee in March. The revised design includes some new and some existing store features, including a complete abandonment of the stainless-steel façade that’s used for multi-story stores in the U.S. and Japan. The design shows an all-glass storefront that appears similar to the failed Flatiron (NYC) design, a circular glass staircase like Ginza (Japan), a skylight like San Francisco (N. Calif.) and others, and a roof-top garden like North Michigan Avenue (Chicago). In its filing with the city, Apple has claimed that demolition and rebuidling is the only viable construction option. Rehabbing the existing, landmarked building would add $2.9 million to the construction cost, Apple said, take six months longer, and even then not result in a retail-efficient space.