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Apple has lifted the veil on the first of its store interiors since Jonathan Ive became chief design officer, at the tech giant’s new outpost in the Belgian capital designed by Foster & Partners. Local press has been given a sneak peak at the Apple Store Brussels, which opens tomorrow on Avenue de la Toison d’Or to coincide with the launch of the Apple Watch in Belgium. It is located within a new building designed by Dutch firm UNStudio and local studio Jaspers-Eyers Architects.
The store’s interior is the first to be overseen by British designer Ive, who took full control of the company’s design department in May 2015. The use of minimal colour and material palettes found in earlier stores is continued, with the same light-toned walls, wooden benches and glass facades. The glass curves around two sides of the corner building, extending to the full double height of the interior. Two sculptural columns break up the glazing.
Light boxes extend the length of the ceiling, similar to those found in Foster + Partner’s Apple Store in Hangzhou, China. Rows of the chunky tables made from sequoia wood present laptops, phones and tablets, while accessories are displayed inside a case that runs along the longest wall. On the far wall, a huge screen is also used to showcase the brand’s products. Two lines of trees kept in giant white pots add a touch of greenery to the centre of the space.
The store’s opening comes a week after Apple launched a range of new and updated products at its annual conference, including a stylus for technical drawing, new versions of the iPhone 6 and an Apple Watch collaboration with Hermès. In 2013, Apple trademarked the design and layout of its retail stores nine years after the first one opened in Virginia, USA. Its designer Tim Kobe told Dezeen that Apple’s retail presence is “not evolving as fast as it could be” and the company’s “momentum has slowed down” since founder Steve Jobs died in 2011.
Photography is by Jeroen Verrecht
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