For the Apple Regency Street store, a review and detailing of the lighting and design system has been published at mondiale.co.uk. It’s a fascinating read…
It’s hard to describe the feeling you experience when you first enter Apple’s European flagship store on London’s Regent Street. More theatre (albeit a perfectly minimalist one) than store, the atmosphere crackles and buzzes like no other shop I have visited before (alright, this editor is a total Applephile). Having already implemented over 30 Apple stores in the USA and Japan, architect firm Gensler was appointed to implement Apple’s ‘digital lifestyle’ concept and adapt it to UK requirements. Originally developed by Apple in association with Eight Inc of San Francisco, this involves hands-on access to products as well as provision of expert service. This concept was further developed by Berkeley-based BCJ into a high-profile formula that was first implemented in Soho, New York.
As the only high profile Apple store not to have natural light coming from the core of the building, a feature was devised to simulate daylight. The ‘light ceiling’ designed by the London-based partnership of US sculptor James Carpenter and UK architect Luke Lowings is intended to evoke the sensation of arriving under a daylit canopy, by using a total of 26 very large (6 by 0.76 metre) planes of hand-etched semi-reflective glass tilted planes dispersing Kemps Neon cold coloured cathode lighting. All lighting, fire safety and servicing elements for the store are integrated into the ceiling grid system.
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