The future Halsted Street (Chicago) Apple store would have a tall, sweeping wall of stainless steel, backed by a slice of glass allowing a view to the inside, and bordered by water fountains, a parking lot and landscaping–but only if design contest winner Chen Shi Jun of Shaoxin (China) was in charge of the final architectural design. Chen’s design beat out 11 other amazing entries in the contest, and will receive a $100 Apple gift card. His design melded the materials, branding and other features of current stores, took them to another level, and then added in street-level features to make the store an inviting place outside. Chen’s detailed renderings show a two-level store that takes full use of the odd-shaped space on Chicago’s north side, but also a design that finds room for curves, glass and other features that avoid creating a blocky, monolithic presence. Apple’s brand is carried by the familiar back-lit logo on the second level of the Halsted-Clybourn Avenue corner, and by a tall tower with a rotating sign at Halsted-West North Avenue. The storefront along Halsted features a tall expanse of glass, while the Clybourn side accommodates 19 parking spaces. Slicing through the middle of the store is an eight-foot panel of glass, allowing customers some visibility of the sky, and passersby a peek into the store’s interior.
Chen is in the design industry, specializing in commercial and exterior work, including malls and shopping centers. He lives in Hangzhou, about 110 miles southwest of Shanghai on the west coast of China.
Other entries in the store design contest show admirable imagination, including roof-top gardens, Apple-shaped building elements, and glass designs that resembled the Fifth Avenue (NYC) cube. Some of the designs were remarkably detailed, even including Genius Bar stools and other interior features.
Congratulations to Chen, and thanks to everyone who entered the contest, and whose designs provide insights into how Apple’s own architecture could evolve to reveal new perspectives.
View the full album of entries to see what other designers created, and to see more of Chen’s renderings.
Looking northwest, the design presents an Apple logo on the edge of an up-sweeping wall of stainless steel. The curving walls reduce the mass and weight of the two façades. (by Chen Shi Jun)
The back of the store has an unusual design for an Apple store--a parking lot. Water fountains and a tall sign pedestal complete the W. North Ave. side of the building. (by Chen Shi Jun)
View southwest across Halsted St., showing the upward sweeping wall, the glass storefront and the sign pedestal. (by Chen Shi Jun)
This view shows the curve and two-level slice of glass about 8-feet wide through the middle of the store. (by Chen Shi Jun)
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
I think you picked the best of the entries! However, I can’t imagine fountains or a rotating sign intriguing Apple. Interesting how many entries used green accents! Allessio Cuozo has star filled night skies as an accent, but I doubt the stars would be out that often in Chicago!
Intriguing. But it reminds me too much of a car dealership.
Mark is too polite. It causes a little acid reflux when I look at it. Other than that, it’s completely unremarkable.
I will say this: Lucky for us, Apple has BCJ and doesn’t have to rely on these clowns. (No, I don’t work for BCJ)
Car dealer…yeah I see that. Maybe from the sixties.
Car dealership I can definitely see. The design is certainly unique, much more than my typical APple box, but as for practicality, I don’t think we’re going to see Any of those design features in the actual store. Apple likes square and boxy, so going to a curvy design would be like taking the MacBook Pros back to the clamshell design. I expect to see two stories, lots of glass, but fountains and parking would be a waste of space to Apple. There’s a parking garage across the street and if they want greenery or a park-like space, I’m sure they’ll just plant a bunch of trees and forget the fountains. We’ll find out in a couple months though.
-Brian
Well, I guess it’s time for the guy in the building trades to weigh in on this contest. All or a substantive part of the following players’ designs resonated with me: Abhimat Krishna Gautam, Jonathan Penfold, Alessio Cuozzo, Tom Miller, Chen Shi Jun, Tony Ward and Stacy Hopkins.
Here’s my rundown in no particular order: Gautam’s I like you following the shape of the lot. I like the tie-in to N. Michigan Ave. with the turf covered roof. I almost missed the parapet wall on the roof to keep people from falling. Can you actually go up to the roof of N. Mich. Ave.? I would have liked to have seen what you had in mind for the triangular glass atrium. You didn’t show anything in that area. Penfold’s entry along with Gautam kind of reminded me of the Boylston Street store in Boston which because of its boxy shape kind of reminds me of a glassed-in parking structure. Well the overall shape of your designs prevent me from so easily thinking that about your designs. I liked Penfold’s ground floor area that is open to the outside.
The Hopkins’ design caught my eye in that it looks like it is glass all the way around. Apple really likes to use its wall space. Where is the storage and service areas? A basement perhaps. Next is Tony Ward. I must confess, I really, really liked this design. I liked the sweeping curved face of the structure.
Cuozzo’s wild exterior was really bold and kind of a throw-back to the first generation iMac days (the multi color days). But what really caught my eye was his (sorry if I misread the gender in your name) interior designs. Possibly a bit dark inside. If you have ever visited a Sony Style store a ways back and more recently you know they have added lighting in their stores. I like your interiors a lot.
Tom Miller, probably the most striking of the exteriors along with Chen shi jun. Tom I really like your use of angles and placement of the glass elements. I know some of the posts think you are using green tinted glass. My new construction experience is kind of limited to room additions, so I don’t look at a lot of elevation renderings. But I seem to recall that designers like to use green to represent thick glass elements.
Finally, Gary’s pick as winner Chen shi jun. I like the sweeping curve of your design. Now Gary knows my feelings on Apple’s unwillingness to fit in to existing historic design environments. Gee are SOHO, and Regent Street’s sales all that bad. Now Chen, you either have to go subterranean with the parking or let them park in the structure across the street. Now if this store was in the sunbelt that parking area could be some kind of patio Again, I say, can you go up to the roof of N. Mich, Ave.? I also like the sandwich of glass. If you change the parking to a patio you and move the fountain in there, I can live with it. I’m on the fence about the rotating sign. Living in California gives me an advantage in that I have visited 19 of the stores, 16 in the L.A. area and three the Las Vegas area. I’ve seen a good cross section of neighborhoods and the Apple stores they feed.