Apple unveiled the company’s plans for a new cube entryway for its Fifth Avenue Apple Store retail location in Manhattan this week. On Tuesday, Apple posted drawn plans for the cube on the temporary façade it put up earlier this year, and on Wednesday, the company provided a mock-up showing what the end result is expected to look like.
Apple started work on the new storefront in June, and the renovation is expected to cost the company a whopping US$6.6 million. At last count, Apple was raking in $440 million in annual sales at the location.
Apple provided New York City website The Gothamist with a mock-up of the new structure, which shows that it uses 15 glass panels, as opposed to the 90 glass panels used to make the old cube.
Apple Mock-up of Its New Fifth Avenue Apple Store Retail Location
Source: Apple, provided to The Gothamist
(Click on the image to see a larger version)
In the diagram Apple put up on its façade, the company said, “We’re simplifying the Fifth Avenue cube. By using larger, seamless pieces of glass, we’re using just 15 panes instead of 90.
Apple’s Diagrams for its New cube
As posted by The Gothamist
Now, let’s contrast that to the original cube entry way from Apple’s own retail site.
Original cube entrance for the Fifth Avenue Apple Store in Manhattan
Source: Apple
Impressive from the moment it was unveiled, it not only became one of New York City’s most photographed buildings, it also served as the benchmark for other Apple Store flagship stores. For instance, there’s the stunningly gorgeous Pudong Apple Store in Shanghai, China, as seen below.
Pudong Apple Store in Shanghai, China
Source: Apple
Clearly modeled after the entrance to the underground for the Fifth Avenue Apple Store, the Pudong Apple Store not only went one better by being a cylinder, it is a cylinder with 41 feet tall glass panels, offering a smoother look to the world than the now-ratty-looking Fifth Avenue Store’s smaller panels, what with all those clamps and things marring the otherwise beautiful glass.
Apple apparently decided it could fix at least one of those perceived shortcomings, by bringing the same technology used to create the Pudong panels to its flagship Manhattan store. ifoAppleStore has some additional background on the glass and the glass makers in Germany and China who have done all this work for Apple.