The newest Apple Store opens in downtown LA today and it may just be the most impressive of them all. The store is situated in the historic Tower Theatre, which opened in 1927 and was apparently the first theater in the city that was wired for showing film with sound. Having been left empty and unused since it closed in 1988, the theater has been restored by Apple to its — quite spectacular — former glory. As Apple points out, there is a thread connecting that heritage of technological innovation from the building's early years to the cutting-edge devices that now fill it.
Apple has well over 500 stores around the world and nearly 300 in the US alone. All are recognizable by their glazed, white, minimalist design language, but some boast locations that are a little more special than others. There's the company's first location in Europe that opened in a Grade II-listed building on London's grandiose Regent Street, the Apple Marina Bay Sands store in Singapore that is in a dome surrounded by water, and Apple Central World in Bangkok, Thailand, that is housed under a tree-like canopy designed by long-standing architectural collaborator Foster + Partners.
As Apple explains, though, its 26th location in the greater LA area is right up there with the best. The company says it worked with preservationists, restoration artists, and the City of Los Angeles "to thoughtfully preserve and restore the theater’s beauty and grandeur." From outside, ersby can see the theater's iconic and now fully restored clock tower, a huge blade sign that has been renovated, and a colorful mural along the building's top side. It is all clad in tasteful terracotta, with Apple's branding kept to a relative minimum.
Inside Apple's Tower Theatre Store
Inside, visitors are welcome into a grand lobby inspired by Charles Garnier’s Paris Opera house, with ornate marble columns, balconies, and stonework. An arched stairway with bronze handrails leads up to the theater's upper level, which looks down past an undulating stone and metal handrail into the main body of the store. The theater's original but modernized tiered seating is also upstairs, now intended for use at events and Genius Bar appointments.
Downstairs, there are the familiar long tables with Apple's products and a video wall with cube seating where teaching sessions can take place. The cavernous space is embellished with sculptural walls, a decorative ceiling with a mural, stained glass windows, and a lavish chandelier. Even as Apple Stores go, the Tower Theatre is a pretty special place to buy your next iPhone.
Source: Apple