Today, Apple welcomes its first customers to Apple Miami Worldcenter, the company’s first mass-timber store.
Located in the downtown district of Miami, the store is interesting for its take on biophilic design. It’s made with regionally-sourced timber and other low-carbon materials; surfaces are soft and undulating, and light and shadow play off the curved perimeter roof. Interiors feel sculptural and dynamic, simultaneously nodding to the Art Deco architecture of the city.
Occupying a standalone pavilion, the structure covers a large central space accessed from glazed entrances. This is filled with Apple's signature tables on a floor made of biomass-based terrazzo, flanked by an oak wall system which incorporates service areas such as a pick-up area, a Genius Bar and a demonstration space for VR headsets.
Apple retail design lead BJ Siegel has said that, considering its size and the fact that it is free-standing, it was decided that locally-sourced materials should be used in the construction of the Apple Miami World Center. The store also runs on 100 percent renewable energy.
Various pains have been taken to connect the interior with surrounding green spaces. Upon entry, customers are greeted with flora inspired by Miami’s Latin American influence. Rather than putting plants in planters, the Apple Miami Worldcenter is set within a densely-planted public space. The roof, which it calls a ‘raised garden’, is also covered in greenery, which is visible from the surrounding towers. Although the building echoes the precise, geometric architecture of other Apple Stores, it is softened by organic shapes, warm tones and an abundance of plant life.
Siegel explained that biophilic design has been part of Apple's design principles for some time now – the company’s recently-launched store in Abu Dhabi, for example, is surrounded by a stepped waterfall and home to rows of full-height trees. That said, this has usually been the extent of it: large glass storefronts and interior planting. ‘The climate in Miami offered a different opportunity, allowing us to embrace the lush landscape and gardens of South Florida to create a densely vegetated urban public space,’ said Siegel.
-
Rivian hits Miami Art Week to release R1S Quad Miami Edition, a new colour and a scentVivid sights and evocative smells are part of Rivian’s quest to humanise its all-electric SUVs
-
Katie Stout installs a stone menagerie across Miami's Design DistrictHorses, frogs and even a mermaid have taken over the avenues of Miami Design District. Discover ‘Gargantua’s Thumb’, a collection of stone seating by designer Katie Stout
-
An analogue room planner kit makes designing your dream home a doddlePlanora, a new room planner option conceived by a team of three Swedish architects, is a beautifully produced, analogue tool to help conceptualise your new space
-
The Architecture Edit: Wallpaper’s houses of the monthFrom wineries-turned-music studios to fire-resistant holiday homes, these are the properties that have most impressed the Wallpaper* editors this month
-
The Stahl House – an icon of mid-century modernism – is for sale in Los AngelesAfter 65 years in the hands of the same family, the home, also known as Case Study House #22, has been listed for $25 million
-
Houston's Ismaili Centre is the most dazzling new building in America. Here's a look insideLondon-based architect Farshid Moussavi designed a new building open to all – and in the process, has created a gleaming new monument
-
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fountainhead will be opened to the public for the first timeThe home, a defining example of the architect’s vision for American design, has been acquired by the Mississippi Museum of Art, which will open it to the public, giving visitors the chance to experience Frank Lloyd Wright’s genius firsthand
-
Clad in terracotta, these new Williamsburg homes blend loft living and an organic feelThe Williamsburg homes inside 103 Grand Street, designed by Brooklyn-based architects Of Possible, bring together elegant interiors and dramatic outdoor space in a slick, stacked volume
-
This ethereal Miami residence sprouted out of a wild, jungle-like gardenA Miami couple tapped local firm Brillhart Architecture to design them a house that merged Florida vernacular, Paul Rudolph and 'too many plants to count’
-
Tour Cano House, a Los Angeles home like no other, full of colour and quirkCano House is a case study for tranquil city living, cantilevering cleverly over a steep site in LA’s Mount Washington and fusing California modernism with contemporary flair
-
An ocean-facing Montauk house is 'a coming-of-age, a celebration, a lair'A Montauk house on Hither Hills, designed by Hampton architects Oza Sabbeth, is wrapped in timber and connects its residents with the ocean
