Katie Marsal
The plans make no specific mention of Apple, referring only to "the applicant," but the designs clearly show the traditional minimalist layout of an Apple Store inside. The proposed building, first discovered by Curbed (via MacRumors), would be 8,084 square feet.
Located on the Third Street Promenade, the shop would replace an existing three-story building that was home to a Borders Bookstore. The 34-foot-high store would feature a transparent glass ceiling, allowing shoppers to see the sky above.
The illustrations for the project were revealed in a Santa Monica Planning Commission meeting agenda. That meeting is set to take place tonight.
The applicant for the project is listed as ASB/Blatteis Promenade Holdings, who purchased the property in September of 2010. The design for the project must receive approval from the city's Architectural Review Board.
The proposal also reveals the unnamed applicant will encourage its employees to use alternative transportation to get to work, offering a $100-per-month transit subsidy toward public transportation fares, as well as a $20-per-month bicycle reimbursement. Bicycle parking has also been proposed for inclusion at the facility's basement level.
The curved glass roof at the proposed store is similar to one already found at the Apple Store in New York's Upper West Side, which opened in 2009. That storefront is also taller, at 54 feet, versus the 34-foot height proposed in Santa Monica.
Curved glass is also a central component of Apple's so-called "spaceship" corporate headquarters, given that moniker because the proposed facility would have a massive circular shape. That structure, awaiting approval from the Cupertino, Calif., city council, would use curved glass all the way around its exterior.
"There's not a straight piece of glass in this building," Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs said in a presentation to the city council in June. "We've used our experience in building retail buildings all over the world. We know how to make the biggest pieces of glass for architectural use."
Wesley Hilliard
Christine McKee
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29 Comments
I wonder if they're going to have issues with heating and cooling with so much glass on top?
I wonder if they're going to have issues with heating and cooling with so much glass on top?
Was thinking the exact same thing. I wonder what the AC bill would be.
Also is it really a good idea to have that much sunshine when most Apple displays are glossy?
I wonder if they're going to have issues with heating and cooling with so much glass on top?
Cooling - possibly. Though having lived on the far west side, my first thought was "what California sun?" In my experience there's more "marine layer" than sun from June to August.
Heating? In SoCal? What's that?
In either event, good luck to them getting this through the Santa Monica bureaucracy in anything like a reasonable amount of time. I think it's a fine design, but the words "timely and efficient" and "Santa Monica approval" rarely appear in the same sentence. And Santa Monica's pretty protective of the Promenade.
I wonder how they're gonna deal with all that monitor glare when the sun shines through that glass.
They'll probably only order Macs with matte screens
Either way, that's gonna be a darn good look'n store!
I'm surprised they'd build on this location. I've found the 3rd st mall in Santa Monica to be a tacky strip with really cheap shops (even since its 'revival'). Not the place I'd expect an Apple Store. Oh well.