Reboot of London’s long-shuttered Apple store nears completion

After being shuttered for all of 2016, Apple’s flagship Regent Street store in London will reopen on Saturday, October 15, Apple has announced.

Working with Foster & Partners, the architectural firm responsible for London’s Gherkin skyscraper, Apple’s renovations plans called for it to update what it calls the “tired and outdated” look of the store front.

What are we expecting instead? Some more Jony Ive minimalism and a whole lot of indoor trees.

Apple’s Regent Street store first opened in 2004. It was later upgraded to become Apple’s largest store at the time.

When it was closed for refurbishment last year, a temporary store was briefly opened in its basement, although this closed down back in June.

Apple recently found itself on the wrong side of London’s City of Westminster council after applying to install two external light fittings to illuminate flags outside the retail store.

In the end, the idea of an illuminated flagpole were shot down on account of the fact that it would “be incongruous and obtrusive … and … would fail to maintain or improve (preserve or enhance) the character and appearance of the Regent Street Conservation Area.”

Are you looking forward to the long-awaited reopening of the Regent Street flagship store? Leave your comments below.

Source: Apple

Luke Dormehl

Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.