I’m really quite awed by the design, engineering, material selection, and attention to detail that went into this Apple Store at 103 Prince Street in SoHo. The beautiful two-story neoclassical building was built in the 1920s and occupied by the Post Office until 1999, when Restoration Hardware briefly occupied it until 2001. Apple opened there in July 2002. The importance of design aesthetic to Apple is evident in this store, which received an architectural award in 2003 (as have the design firms involved – Bohlin Cywinski Jackson and Ronnette Riley.)

The most striking feature of this store (and other Apple Stores) is the use of glass, particularly the 15-foot high glass staircase, with its acid-etched diamond-plate treads. The staircase, which actually received a design patent with Apple CEO Steve Jobs listed (copy of the patent here) was designed by structural engineer James O’Callaghan, now a partner with Brian Eckersley at Eckersley O’Callaghan Structural Design.
An enormous amount went into the design, with considerations for weight loads, wear, seismic protection, and joinery with titanium hardware. Depp Glass (NY) manufactured the staircase components, the titanium hardware was manufactured by Tripyramid Structures Inc. (Mass.), and the fabrication, installation, and safety tests were performed by Seele GmbH & Co. of Gerthofen, Germany. Click here for a thorough, detailed article. Glass is also used for the stair sidewalls, a bridge (connecting the two sides of the upper floor), and the 70-foot skylight. Lead architect Peter Bohlin explains that glass elements are used not only for structural ingenuity but also because they capture the design of Apple’s products: “From the point of view of the attitude and spirit of the store, it is the pure expression of a quality associated with a company that makes these very beautiful, rather pure products.”

Glass elements and white Corian fixtures are juxtaposed with wood for warmth – maple is used for benches, tables, counters, shelving, and the backs to the seating in their theater, used for presentations, classes, and events. The unique Pietra Serna stone floor in dark gray is also striking. If you love glass as I do, visit this store along with their Fifth Avenue location, the subject of two previous postings (click here and here)…

This is the Scholastic Building at 557 Broadway in SoHo’s cast iron district. The project was designed by celebrated Italian architect Aldo Rossi, described as a “poet who happens to be an architect.” He died in an auto accident before construction began.

Scholastic, established in 1920, is the world’s largest publisher of children’s books. They have a large presence in this area, occupying a number of buildings. This was Rossi’s first and only project in NYC. The structure was built from scratch on a site which was home to a parking lot and a one-story building (Broadway Lumber), taking six years to complete. The design, with its white half-columns, spandrels, and rust-red I-Beams, is quite striking; “the building’s columnar Broadway facade, in steel, terra-cotta, and stone, echoes the scale and the formal, Classical character of its commercial neighbors.”

The property extends one city block through to Mercer Street, where the building sports its own similar but more industrial facade. Most critics love the design, while some, of course, do not. The building expands Scholastic’s previous headquarters next door at the Rouss Building (circa 1889) at 555 Broadway (photo left) – the floors are contiguous between the two buildings. The land itself is leased from the Blechman family, with an option to buy it in 2013. Read the story here. The new building serves as the primary entrance to Scholastic; the ground floor and mezzanine is a retail store with their line of books, videos, games, puzzles, and toys. Do visit…