Apple Of Singapore's Eye

In conceptualising the latest retail store for the tech giant, foster + partners has added another design destination to the city.

- Low Shi Ping

The future of retail lies in brands curating memorable experiences for its customers – and no one is more savvy at this than Apple.

Its twin tenets of architecture and design culminate in Singapore’s third store at Marina Bay Sands, embodying an experience unlike any other.

Conceptualised by Foster + Partners, which designed the first two stores in the country (and many others around the world), this one is, in fact, more than just another drop in the Apple ocean.

For starters, it is shaped as a sphere – reminiscent of a bubble – its smooth curves a counterpoint to the sharp angles of the surrounding skyscrapers in Marina Bay, where it is located.

“Apple Marina Bay Sands was envisioned as a simple, elegant bubble that floats on the water,” says Chris Braithwaite, Apple’s Senior Director of Worldwide Retail Design.

“The sphere is a pure shape that lends itself to a very minimal and refined aesthetic, creating a design found in many of our other Apple Stores.”

Composed fully of glass allowing its interiors to be flooded with daylight, the dome-like structure is entirely self-supported and surrounded on all sides by water – a first for the brand – giving the illusion that it is floating in the Bay.