Apple’s worldwide retail network may be struggling during the coronavirus pandemic, but that hasn’t stopped the company from indulging in its penchant for pricey-looking, unique, and outlandish exterior design.
The iPhone maker’s newest retail location, located in Singapore on the city-state’s waterfront and known officially as Apple Marina Bay Sands, can claim a world’s first title
yes it is the only Apple retail shop on the planet that floats on water.
Apple is opening its first-ever floating Apple store September 10 in Singapore’s Marina Bay.
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And the company has now released new photos of the interior, which includes rows of trees, streaming sunlight and an underwater boardroom.
When the sun is out, the massive globe’s 114 glass panels will offer 360-degree panoramic views of the Singapore skyline and iconic waterfront.
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The location, part of the luxury hotel and resort of the same name, is Singapore’s third Apple Store following Orchard Road, which opened as Singapore’s first in 2017, and Apple Jewel Changi Airport, located in the world-famous retail sector of Singapore’s transportation hub that also features the world’s tallest indoor waterfall.
During the daytime, the new Marina Bay Sands store appears to look like an odd spacecraft of some sort or perhaps some form of futuristic theater.
But at night time, when Singapore’s iconic skyline is lit in all its glory in the background, the store really comes alive and you can tell the company clearly designed it as an evening fixture best viewed in the dark.
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Local media got its hands on a neat little teaser video Apple made to promote the store’s opening, showing a custom graphic meant to emulate the look of the thin light lines that spread across the orb at night.
9to5Mac has published what appear to be marketing images and blurbs promoting the new store, in which the store is referred to as “the lantern on the bay.”
“During the day, the store’s glass panels reflect the towering skyline of the Downtown Core and motion of the rippling water.
At night, the sphere glows with a gentle warmth, evoking the design of traditional lanterns carried during Singapore’s Mid-Autumn Festival,” one of the slides reads. “The pavilion dome narrows to an oculus, allowing unobstructed light to flood in.
A birds-eye view of the store resembles a glass iris peering into the sky.”
According to the marketing material, the store will “include the same measures found at Singapore’s other Apple Stores” regarding ongoing COVID-19 health and safety efforts, which include limited occupancy, mask wearing, and other sanitization requirements.
