APPLE ORCHARD ROAD -

SINGAPORE

Apple Orchard Road is the first Apple Flagship in Singapore, highlighting its role as a global centre for creativity. Its design reflects the vibrancy and innovative spirit of the city-state. Located along the tree-lined avenue, Orchard Road – at the heart of the garden city – the flagship aims to create a new social focus, while working with nature. It blurs the boundaries between inside and outside. Singapore is considered one of the greenest cities in the world, and the new flagship embodies this theme, inspired by the origins of Orchard Road, when nutmeg and fruit orchards dominated the site. It embraces the wide pavement in front of the store, forming a new public space with eight mature trees that create a shaded ‘green orchard’, and provide a natural meeting place amid the dense urban environment. Its 36.5m wide glazed storefront dematerialises the building’s facade. A thin, white canopy cantilevering out 7.6m, drawing the eye towards the interior, while providing shelter from Singapore’s tropical climate. The large stone walls to either side of the interior feature two spectacular curved staircases, hand-carved by Italian artisans from Castagna stone providing warm and beautifully sculpted bookends to the grand space inside – a homage to craftsmanship and materiality. The staircases effortlessly flow up to the mezzanine floor with integrated handrails which have a tactile and smooth finish. Photo credits: Nigel Young.