Education
This giant globe is the first floating Apple Store in the world
Apple 's global retail network may be struggling during the coronavirus pandemic, but that hasn't stopped the company from succumbing to pricey, unique and outlandish exterior design. The latest iPhone retail location, located in Singapore on the waterfront of the city and officially known as Apple Marina Bay Sands, can claim the world's first title: it's the only Apple retail store on the planet that floats on water.
The place, part of the luxury hotel and resort of the same name, is Singapore 's third Apple Store on Orchard Road, which opened as Singapore's first in 2017, and Apple Jewel Changi Airport, situated in Singapore's world-famous transport hub retail market, which also features the world's highest waterfall. (Singapore seems pretty sweet, huh?)
Apple’s Marina Bay Sands Retail Store to Open Soon in Singapore https://t.co/WL2K8VLWvi by @waxeditorial pic.twitter.com/kRFRqCYnvQ
— MacRumors.com (@MacRumors) August 24, 2020
Throughout the daytime, the new Marina Bay Sands store appears to be a mysterious spaceship of some sort or maybe some kind of futuristic theater.
But at night, when Singapore 's iconic skyline is illuminated in all its glory in the background, the store really comes alive, and you can tell the company specifically built it as an evening fixture best viewed in the dark. (But I get the real Rehoboam vibes, the sinister-looking artificial intelligence from the third season of the Westworld.)
The rumours are indeed true! Apple Marina Bay Sands, the first Apple store in the world that floats on the water, is opening soon in Singapore.#AppleMarinaBaySands #Singapore #SingapoRediscovers #cityscape #architecture @Apple @marinabaysands @AP_Magazine @GettyImages pic.twitter.com/Awbgzo2qtO
— Javan Ng (@javanng) August 24, 2020
We don't have a lot of information about the place, like how exactly the interior is designed. We know that the store is Apple's 512th global retail store, and that it will open sometime early. MacRumors got his hands on a cool little promotional video created by Apple to advertise the opening of the store, showing a custom graphic designed to mimic the look of thin light lines that scatter across the orb at night.
9to5Mac has released what appears to be marketing photos and blurbs advertising the new store, in which the shop is referred to as "the bay lantern."
"Throughout the day, the glass panels of the store reflect the skyline of the downtown core and the motion of the rippling water. At night, the sphere glows with a gentle light, evoking the style of traditional lanterns carried during the Singapore Mid-Autumn Festival, "one of the slides reads. "The roof of the pavilion narrows to the oculus, allowing unobstructed light to stream in. A bird-eye view of the shop looks like a glass iris peering into the sky.
According to the marketing material, the store will "feature the same steps seen in Singapore's other Apple Stores" regarding ongoing COVID-19 health & safety programs, including limited occupancy, wearing masks and other sanitization criteria.
