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Location: 235 Regent Street, London's West End Number: #99 Grand Opening: November 20, 2004, as announced on Oct. 26th First in Line: -- Building: The building is called Regent House, and occupies the site of the former Hanover Chapel--hence the name of the side street. The central domed block, was designed by G. D. Martin for T. H. Brooke-Hitchings. The building is owned by the Queen's Estate, and is among the first along upper Regent Street to be renovated in an overall project to re-vitalize the area. The building will eventually include two other ground-floor retailers, one retailer on each side street (5 total), 10 apartments and several offices on the upper-floors. The façade of the building is decorated with Ionic pilasters, in contrast to the restrained adjoining buildings which are by A. J. Davis with Yates, Cook & Darbyshire. According to "Design Week" magazine, a back-lip Apple logo will appear beneath each of the four front arches.
The designs on the façade were restored in 1999, and show (from l. to r.): the arms of the City of London (white shield with a red cross and a red sword in the top-left corner), a British Royal Lion holding the Royal Arms of the United Kingdom, the arms of the City of Westminster (blue shield with a gold portcullis). By the way, Westminster is the second of the three cities that make up the heart of London, along with the Cities of London and Southwark. The right-hand side shows a coat-of-arms I can't identify from the photo, the Lion of St. Mark over the Doge's cap, symbols of Venice, and finally the arms of the Island of Murano. Murano was and is where the Venetian glass industry is based (the glassmakers were forced to move their facilities to the island several hundred years ago to reduce the risk of fire in the city). The cities listed at the top were where the Compagni Salviati had shops. [Thanks to Graham for the previous research!] Architect: Gensler's Studio 585 division (SF), and Bohlin Cywinski Jackson (SF). Interior fixtures: Eight Inc., (SF). Lighting Designer: ISP Design (Miami). Features: The store will occupy 20,000 square-feet plus 3,000 back-of-house in the middle of the Regent Street side of the building, spanning 75 feet wide on two floors. The store includes four theaters and four training rooms, in addition to a glass staircase and other unspecified special features. It will have the largest/longest Genius Bar of all the retail stores, at at 46 feet. It will feature a "Studio," like the Shadyside store in the U.S., as well as fee-based training classes like the Ginza (Tokyo) store. Media: description / map of location / download map, pdf / photo / development / Regent Street info / Michael's exclusive photos / project summary / architect's rendering / shopping map / job recruiting page / my scouting trip / scaffolding removed / store design news story / blueprint / store calendar (pdf) / photos Feb. 2005 / light ceiling design info (pdf) Comments: I announced the location in early 2004, and Apple first confirmed this location during a financial analysts' meeting on April 14, 2004. They announced the grand opening on Oct. 26, 2004. This portion of Regent Street is considered London's elite shopping destination, between Princes and Hanover Streets, just off Oxford Circus, and is undergoing a £500 million renovation as long-term leases (80-100 years!) expire, and allow the Estate to sign other tenants. The "Times of London" newspaper said the company will pay £1.5 million ($2,840,309) a year in rent. Other retailers on the street nearby include The Gap, Benetton, Crabtree & Evelyn, Dickens & Jones and Woolwich. A job recruiting page appeared on Apple's UK Web site on April 18, 2004. An historic dome was replaced onto the roof on April 19, 2004, and the developer reported then that the renovation was 5 weeks ahead of schedule. The construction scaffolding was removed from the building front the week of July 18, 2004. Apple reportedly received over 4,000 applications, and will only hire 120 persons. The manager will be John O'Grady from the Third Street Promenade (S. Calif.) store.Appeared on the Sept.-Oct. 2004 printed store calendar issued Sept. 25th as, "Stores open in 2004." Employees were training at the San Francisco store the week of Sept. 13, 2004. Black-painted plywood appeared Sept. 30, 2004. As of Oct. 1, 2004 one of the adjacent retail spaces will be a Ted Baker clothing store.
photo taken Oct. 7, 2004
photo taken from the north July 25, 2004
photo taken from across the street on July 10, 2004
photo taken from north in mid-February, 2004 |
The distinctive mosaics along the second-floor level of the building were installed to advertise an early tenant, Dr. Antonio Salviati, who designed and manufactured mosaics. He was one of the principals responsible for the rebirth of Venetian glass after its nadir under the Austrian rule of Venice, and had British partners and a London shop. Amongst his better known works was the restoration of the mosaics in the Basilica San Marco in Venice, and the mosaics on the Albert Memorial in Hyde Park, London. Salviati also worked on some of the mosaics for St. Paul's Cathedral, London. In the world of vitreous mosaics he is one of the key players, and so the mosaics on Regent House are both nationally and internationally significant.
