Apple Plans to Build New Prototype Retail Store

Apple is planning to build a new prototype store in downtown Palo Alto just a block away from its existing location, according to The Daily News.

Apple will move its existing location into the new larger building once it is complete. The store is referred to as "a new prototype for the company." The facade will be entirely transparent at ground level, vast skylights will flood the store with natural light, and trees will grow inside, fed by the sunlight from above, according to a proposal submitted to the city's architectural review board.

"The proposed store is a new prototype for the applicant," the developers wrote in a memo to the city. "Fully half the function of the store serves to provide education and service to business as well as customer patrons in addition to product sales. The store is a commons for the applicant's community to gather."


The transparent glass front "dissolves the boundary that traditional store facades create. By not breaking the horizontal ground plane of the sidewalk with opaque wall or landscape element, for example, the street is made part of the store's interior; the pedestrian is in the store before entering it."

"The whole design is inside-outside, with everything completely exposed," said Lew of the architectural review board. "With the huge skylight, there's going to be lots of daylight and it will feel more like an atrium inside. ... We're excited about the project."

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