14 DAY TRIAL // The winners of The Structural Awards 2014 have been officially announced. If you’re wondering why this piece of news has made a headline here on the Apple section of Softpedia, it’s because Apple took first place in the Supreme Award for Structural Engineering Excellence and the award for best Commercial or Retail Structures.
The store in question, the Zorlu location in Istanbul, is based on a glass cube much like the iconic store on Fifth Avenue (NYC). However, unlike the American cube, this one has no joints other than the structural silicone used to keep the five slabs of glass together.
Amazing architectural achievement
Co-created by Eckersley O'Callaghan and Foster + Partners, the mesmerizing store is located in a wide garden of sorts in the middle of a larger complex, where people can gaze at the huge Apple logo stamped on the white roof. The store, by all accounts, looks and feels like an Apple product in and of itself.
It uses state-of-the-art structural glass that goes to the absolute limits of current material fabrication. The slabs of glass are 10m long by 3m high, and they’re even capable of resisting earthquakes.
The roof is made of carbon fiber reinforced plastic panels, which also connect almost seamlessly with the glass. The judges lauded the total absence of fixings and the detailing. From istructe.org:
“The judges found this to be a supreme example of collaboration between engineer and fabricator to achieve an outstanding, architecturally minimalist structure. The use of single panes of toughened laminated glass to support a lightweight ultra-thin CFRP roof without connections other than structural silicone, takes structural glass technology into a new dimension. A project where only engineering excellence and attention to detail can produce a result of such simplicity and purity of expression.”
Glass is top choice at Apple
If there’s one material Apple loves to use in its products, it’s glass. That, and aluminum. However, when it comes to the things that truly need to shine, it can do wonders with glass.
The company regards its stores as extensions of its products, which unsurprisingly means that most of them will be made of glass. Big, tall slabs of glass that not only give the store a unique look and feel, but also let the sun in.
While most Apple Stores are ordinary brick & mortar buildings with just the facade made of glass, there are exceptions – like the Zorlu store – which constitute architectural marvels.
