SEE AND BE SEEN - THE CONCEPT

The program: A 21,000 sq. ft. retail store for Apple.

The project situated in one of the oldest squares in Boston is presented with an existing urban fabric composed of buildings for Religion, libraries, commerce and corporate businesses. This fabric borders an entire square known to all as “Copley Square”, a square where Bostonians come together for events and daily life.

The scheme proposes to build an “Apple” store on the corner of Boylston and Dartmouth Street, the store is to be an urban living room creating a stage at the corner for seeing and be seen. The main retail experience hovers above this so called urban living room, acting as an umbrella allowing shoppers from all over the world to be enveloped as they occupy the space.

The concept of “see and be seen” is generated from observing the vanishing points of approach to this corner, whether you are a driver, a “T” rider or a pedestrian.

The program for the store is presented as follows:

The Store plaza – level one
The Ground – level one
The Mezzanine – level two
The Harvesting – level three
The Experience – level four
The Roofscape – level five

Elements defined per level:

The Store plaza:
i. The knolls
ii. The benches
iii. The glass seats
iv. The bench at the corner of the alley

The Ground level:
i. The Doors (retractable and pivot)
ii. The Stage
iii. The Apple device checkout
iv. The First Born
v. The Start of the Genius Bar
The Mezzanine level:

i. An elevated stage
ii. To see and be seen

The Harvesting level:

i. Animation by Apple staff retrieving from the product harvest

The Experience level:

i. Retail space
ii. The center stage is an opaque glass floor to be seen
iii. Place to see and celebrate the existing urban fabric
iv. Be seen from the vanishing points

The Roofscape level:
i. Occupy the top of the hovering volume to be seen
ii. Cater to the sky fabric with “ROOF TV”
iii. The walkable skylights for sky viewers to see inside the store