Long-term rumors of a future Apple store in Edinburgh (Scotland) have gained traction with the approval by city officials of an architects plans to reconstruct the former Virgin Megastore at 124/125 Princes Street in city center. Architectural drawings approved by the city on March 17th show a space, modifications and features that are consistent with Apple’s style, but they seem specifically vague in order not to tip off the company’s plans. The building was once historic, but was reconstructed in the 1970s, rendering it almost generic. It faces the city’s main shopping street, the Princes Street Gardens, and the city’s iconic hilltop castle. According to the drawings, the building will have a stainless steel façade with large windows, a mezzanine on the inside, and a new staircase–undescribed on the drawings. Notations on the drawings indicate that a permit for signage–which would definitely identify the store–will be submitted “at a later stage.” View or download the drawings after the break.
The architect’s drawings are rather generic, but do contain some Apple-related features.
The front of the building has stainless steel facing and large windows. The upper portion of the building will remain mostly the same after the reconstruction. To the left is the entrance to a stairway to the upper-floor offices.
The ground floor of the store, showing the sections that will be changed. The notation points to where a new, undescribed stairway will be installed, behind the existing stairway that will be removed.
The existing mezzanine will be enlarged over the main retail floor. Notice to the left is an entrance and stairs to the upper floors.
Here is the front portion of the building in section view. Oddly, there is a parking garage on an upper level.
Download (pdf) the full drawings for more perspective on the location of the building along Princes Street and within the block, and of what the store might look like:
- permit application
- site plan
- block plan
- shopfront
- ground-floor
- mezzanine
- elevation view
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{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
Great snooping Gary! I always wonder whether you get these stories from tips or just hard slogging of looking online. We may never know, but interesting to see the possible plans so early. I definitely agree that the car-park on the first floor is a very bizarre addition. Apart from that it looks like a classic Apple-style retail location.
Patrick – To be clear, someone is renovating the entire building, which already included that car park on the upper level. It’s not clear from the plans if Apple plans to occupy any of the upper-floor office space. Some other international locations have training, meeting and office space in the same building as the stores. Could be here, too.
Edinburgh Evening News thinks otherwise:
http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/edinburgh/Urban-Outfitters-targets-empty-Princes.5049490.jp
Curious…
I know that old building pretty well from dozens of years visits while growing up, and there’s no way there’s a garage up there above the doors. The current mezzanine used to be the customer complaints / jazz section (nice combination!) and the basement was Virgin’s fairly voluminous games and movies floor which used to be a big draw. The stairs were metal with yellow and black “industrial” stripes, and I remember it feeling like paying a visit to the GamesMaster on my first trip when they moved into that location. Ah, how dated!
Certainly, it’s a pretty generic and messy building, like almost all of Princes Street. Any sign that the front entrance is to be straightened up? Currently it’s a bit of a hobo and advertiser magnet as the door to Princes Street is inset by a couple of metres in a triangle.
John – there is indeed a car park there, access from Rose Street, servicing the retail space and the four floors of office space above. If Apple is renting, they will only be interested in the basement, ground floor and mezzanine.
The frontage is indeed planned to be straight rather than the angled recess as at the moment.
However, Urban Outfitters is a pretty big outfit – they could well be the next tenants. Their image is fairly trashy so they’ll fit in to the general standard now populating Princes Street.
Apple may have moved on and shelved the Edinburgh plans – they have started taking job applications for a new store in Aberdeen. The current state of Princes Street would put anyone off. Apple certainly would not want to have a grand opening facing on to 8′ fencing and 18 months of road works for the new tram system.
@Eddie
Indeed. Princes Street was trending trashy well before its total shutdown to the road-works kicked in a month or two back. Even 18 months might be a bit optimistic given the fiasco surrounding the trams’ funding:
Check this link
There’s an older thread here where some of us have been discussing the Princes Street spot for quite a while:
Check this link
As a commenter recently pointed out, Urban Outfitters’ Glasgow store is a tiny fraction as big as this prospective one on Princes Street. Also: why the ambitious plans for renovation from someone less perfectionist than Apple?
It’s fair to say this is all a bit of a mystery as yet.
Definitely Urban Outfitters going into the Zavvi store!
New plans are on line at the local Council.
I reckon Apple has had a look at the state of Edinburgh City Centre and said ‘forget it!’
How could they have a grand opening in their usual style, with an 8 foot high wire fence and a huge building site 10 feet in front of their new shop front. The fact that they are now recruiting for a new store in Aberdeen means surely that Edinburgh will not see an Apple Store for a few years at least, until this tram nonsense is finally up and running or cancelled forever
The fact that they are opening a store in Aberdeen doesn’t mean that they are not opening one in Edinburgh. Basically, Apple hasn’t found the ideal location for they store in Edinburgh yet or, if they have, they are waiting for the current lease to expire.
Princes Street is the only location that Apple would be interested in. Princes Street is at the moment resembling a war zone, and will be for another three years.
They had found the ideal location, the current lease expired, and Apple let it go.
Edinburgh Council is spending half a billion pounds on a tramway that no one wants, and is killing business in the city centre.
It stands to reason that Apple would want nothing to do with such a mess.
Haha…. I can confirm without a shadow of doubt that in addition to the current glasgow and aberdeen stores, further stores will be opening in edinburgh and dundee…. but you all probably know that already :)
Sure, it’s not a matter of if but when. Apple’s getting to be a big presence on high streets all over Britain, and Edinburgh – in spite of itself – still has one of the most naturally appealing. Might even get more than one store eventually, if Bristol is anything to go by.
Apple might be waiting to move into the new revamped St James Centre http://www.stjamesquarter.info when its finally built out.
Thanks for the possible store site—yes, it does look pretty amazing development, and a location where Apple would love to be. But Spring 2015?! Yikes! That’s a long time to wait—but then, Apple has done that before, too.
Given this town’s track record in budget blasting, years in arrears grand projects (Scottish Parliament at Holyrood, notorious, and the farcical trams, giving it a run for its money) I’d pencil in 2020 instead. Who’s meant to be paying? The council will be in crisis over the tram debt for years, not least with a new London government’s cuts.
Maybe we could get by with a little mall store at Cameron Toll or the like? Honestly, our one Premium Apple Reseller (Cancom at the bridges) is at the bottom of that scale.