Retail: The Latest Architecture and News

Similar to their identifiable products, the Apple stores require a sleek, almost instantly recognizable, aesthetic. As keepers of the latest technology, the buildings’ minimalist interiors boast a calm and sophisticated demeanor, complimenting, yet not overshadowing, their prized possessions. It may come as a surprise that the leading architects behind the stores are Bohlin Cywinski Jackson (BCJ), a firm that had never designed a retail store before Apple and whose principal, Peter Bohlin, winner of the AIA Gold Medal, ironically doesn’t use email.

Bohlin has awed us in the past, especially with Apple’s second Manhattan retail store located on Fifth Avenue. Turning a tough retail space into a successful masterpiece, the store’s iconic cube, a 32-foot glass structure, marks the store’s entrance and beckons customers down to the retail level which is illuminated with natural light. And now, BCJ has just unveiled their latest Apple store, and the first of its kind in China which seeks to emulate similar design decisions as the Fifth Avenue project.

Architects Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands and food consultant Ford McDonald have released the first images of their designs for a 50,000 sqft fit-out in a new department store on Moscow’s Tsvetnoy Boulevard. The team is providing three floors of food retail and restaurant space, including a spectacular destination rooftop café.

More images and architect’s description after the break.

Have yuo ever enter a store because of it’s design and not for what they sell? Probably yes. So to honor that great retail designs, here’s our third selection of previously featured Retail projects. Check them all after the break.

H&M Store in Barcelona / Estudio Mariscal A design project aimed at creating excitement among the customers that go into the shop. Excitement at buying clothes and also to be shopping in a pleasant, comfortable, unique place. To make sure that the area is the setting for a pleasant, fun-filled experience. Second objective: that the clothes should find their own place, that the distribution of the shop should order the exhibition of the clothes and the routes (read more…)

Toronto-based architectural firm Hariri Pontarini Architects in collaboration with Great Gulf Homes has recently revelaed the new design for One Bloor, a mixed-use residential condominium tower in Toronto, Canada.

More images and architect’s description after the break.

International architecture firm Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF) unveiled today their design for One Central Macau. This luxury 400,000 square foot retail facility as part of a grand scale mixed-use development designed by KPF, and completes yet another key milestone in the city’s continued growth.

More images and description after the break.