ART4D SPEAKS WITH CHRIS BRAITHWAITE, SENIOR DIRECTOR OF RETAIL AND DESIGN AT APPLE, ABOUT ITS SECOND STORE IN BANGKOK AND HOW THIS ‘TREE CANOPY’ BECOMES APPLE’S FIRST EVER CYLINDRICAL GLASS DESIGN
TEXT: NAPAT CHARITBUTRA
INTERVIEW BY PAPHOP KERDSUP
PHOTO: KETSIREE WONGWAN
(For Thai, press here)
When comparing Apples’ investments in Bangkok to other countries in the Southeast Asian region, the company invests a great deal in Bangkok. We’re only saying this because after the relatively recent opening of the Apple Store at ICONSIAM Shopping Mall, the brand has quickly moved on to open its second Apple Store in Bangkok last month, following the almost half-a-year-long pandemic lockdown.
Apple Central World is situated on the corner of Central World Shopping Mall’s Event Ground, adjacent to Ratchaprasong Intersection and across the road from Erawan Shrine. The building is approximately 24-meters tall. The cylindrical structure embraces the transparent glass walls. From the information we received, the design supposedly takes its inspiration from Steve Jobs Theater and is the first Apple Store to adopt the cylindrical form with the cantilevering canopy that runs around and extends three meters from the main structure. The store divides its functional program into two parts; the retail spaces on the first and second floor and the underground Board Room for corporate clients connected by the Tree Canopy. Functioning as the axis of the entire architectural structure, the Tree canopy hosts the central circulation, the system works and bears the overall weight of the building.
The design deliberately uses the same flooring material for both the interior and exterior space, blurring the existing physical boundary. A part of the skywalk is demolished to construct a new sky terrace where visitors will find a waiting area with a couple of benches and direct access to the second floor of the shop. The ground floor area around the shop is occupied by another waiting area decorated into a beautiful landscape with a bunch of trees and benches. It’s going to take some time to see what kind of energy the arrival of this Apple Store will bring to this corner of Ratchaprasong intersection.
One of the most intriguing elements of the design is the Tree canopy, whose details of the woodwork reveal the seamless assembly of vertical and horizontal wood panels. The outcome is an architectural line that gradually expands into the ceiling’s structure and extends surpassing the glass wall in a seamless, uninterrupted flow. The architect has worked together with Blumer-Lehmann AG, a leading wood engineering firm from Switzerland. The oak wood panels are bent into different angles and directions. To create one wood board, six layers of wood panels are laminated together before CNC techniques are employed to create grooves and physical profiles. From afar, one may look and think that the Tree Canopy is made of ordinary oak wood but in reality, all the laminated panels possess engineering properties that have been precisely designed and calculated.
Apple Central World is a collaboration between Apple’s retail and design team, Foster+Partners, and Bangkok-based architecture firm, ARCHITECTS 49 LIMITED as well as F&P (Thailand) Ltd. art4d had a brief conversation with Chris Braithwaite, Senior Director of Retail and Design at APPLE where we discussed a few other details that are not included in this article, including it’s the stainless steel staircase, the development of the design of the Tree Canopy and Apple’s direction in the changing landscape of physical retail stores after the arrival of e-commerce services.
art4d: Could you please share with us a little bit about the new Apple Store in Bangkok, Apple Central World? Why does the design take shape in a cylindrical mirror box? And why was Ratchaprasong District chosen?
Chris Braithwaite: The inspiration behind the Apple Central World started from finding the right location. We always felt that Ratchaprasong is arguably one of Bangkok’s most important intersections; being incredibly centrally located and highly accessible. So, we wanted to find a location around there, and we felt the public plaza allowed us to really incorporate Apple’s design vision into that location. The visionary approach is to provide a democratic and inclusive architectural expression and the location allowed us to do that, since it is adjacent to the country’s largest shopping centre and near the cultural shrine. What we wanted to do was to provide an open-plan form that would be adapted to the specific location and addressed all adjacencies in an egalitarian and unbiased way. That led us to what has become our first ever cylindrical glass design. And we did that under a cantilevered Tree Canopy.
art4d: Could you expand and tell us more about the Tree Canopy?
CB: We got our inspiration from the surrounding environment. We wanted to connect not only on the plaza level, but also on the skywalk above; and the design itself allows us to do that. It’s been quite an engineering achievement to produce the Tree Canopy. We’ve worked very closely with some engineers in Switzerland, learning ways to mount and bend the wood in a way that afforded our design. Moreover, we’ve incorporated some essential elements of the retail store into it, including the HVAC system as well as the lighting system. We’ve also found a clever way to allow the Tree Canopy to absorb and produce sound; dealing with acoustics through the materiality. So, that’s been really exciting.
In addition to that, staircases have always been a significant feature of Apple retail stores. We took some methods and inspirations from our store designs in Milan and Fifth Avenue. So, we created these beautiful treads that wind up around the Tree Canopy; they’re produced from single blocks of stainless steel anchored to a stringer hidden behind the wooden core of the store. And we managed to make these treads thinner and more structurally efficient in their design by following that technique. We learned many lessons from this project.
One final thing we wanted to do in that location, in particular, was to try to blur the line between the outside and the inside by using the same stone material. So, you really get a seamless effect separated only by the cylindrical glass. Besides that, we planted trees around the perimeter of the store and provided some benches in between so as to allow it to be a place for the community to gather and take a moment away from the hustle and bustle of everyday city life.
art4d: Did you face any challenges during the design and construction process?
CB: We have many challenges all the time because we’re always seeking to push the boundaries of what we and many in the industry have done before. I would say that the design and construction of the Apple Central World has been relatively smooth; we’ve had a great team around us. The biggest challenge that had been thrown at us was the uncertain time that we found ourselves during these days and how we dealt with it from a logistical point of view, as well as from an operational standpoint of working out how to build the store in a safe way. And I think we’ve done that very successfully. Safety and security remained a significant factor through these troubling times, it is a really important part of everything that we do at Apple.
art4d: Were there any characteristics regarding the city of Bangkok that you had taken into consideration when it comes to the design of Apple Central World?
CB: I think one of the biggest considerations we wanted to ensure was to be respectful; appreciating the fact that the location is in such a sensitive area. That is what really led us to the cylindrical glass design because we felt that it didn’t turn its back on the surrounding neighborhood. We wanted to find an appropriate way to bring life both from the ground floor level up to the first level as well, and I think we achieved that in quite a subtle way.
art4d: When talking in the sense of the digitality and physicality of a space, and with the growth of e-commerce nowadays, what is the actual role of a ‘physical’ Apple Store?
CB: Undoubtedly, retail is evolving. We’ve seen that evolution, probably, for a couple of years now and we’re really excited about it. On a global level, we believe strongly in the omnichannel world, bringing both the physical and the digital worlds together. And I think each of these have very important roles to play in servicing and surprising our customers, so you need them both. Then there’s the micro level. When you look at the nature of Bangkok as a city, the physical shopping experience and retail are really important for they are a part of the urban fabric in a way that people want to discover. So, we’re excited about how we can bring the physical and digital together. And through technology and design in our products, we will continue to find new ways to do that. A location like Bangkok forces us to innovate and continue along that journey.
art4d: Microsoft just announced in late June that it will permanently close all of its Microsoft Stores, except for four locations that will be reimagined as experience centres that no longer sell products. What do you think about this phenomenon?
CB: Well, obviously, we can’t comment on that. There might be many reasons why Microsoft decided to close the majority of its stores, and that’s clearly their decision. We just believe that retail stores will need to reinvent themselves to stay relevant in a macro form. And in a sort of micro form regarding that, we need to make sure that we stay relevant from a retail perspective. We believe very strongly that people will want to shop online and also in the physical stores for many different reasons. And those reasons will vary from not only person to person, but also from city to city, and country to country, depending on many factors. So, as I said, we’re excited about the future of physical retail. We understand the importance of the digital world and how the physical world interacts with it. Like many things in life, finding the balance between the two is the journey that we’re on so that we can reach an equilibrium.