Gleaming stainless steel spiral staircase with glass balustrade at the Apple Retail Store on 5th Avenue in New York

glass balustrade as a connecting element

apple store 5th avenue – an all-glass icon

Apple and seele share a long-standing partnership with numerous joint projects. Among these is the flagship store in New York, featuring an enormous glass cube at the entrance and a sophisticated interior design, including a reflective staircase with a curved glass balustrade.
 

three times seele, three times innovation: reimagining the apple cube 

This was the third time seele had been tasked with building Apple’s iconic glass cube. The glass cube itself was constructed exactly as before, consisting of 15 glass panels, 8 glass fins and 4 glass beams at the ceiling. However, the spiral staircase with its glass balustrade was completely redesigned because the basement floor was lowered to increase the ceiling height in the underground retail spaces.

Façade type
Structural glass
Client
Apple, Inc.
Engineer
Eckersley O’Callaghan
Architect
Foster + Partners
Spiral staircase with glass balustrade and mirror-polished stainless steel steps connects the floors of the Apple Store in New York
Detail of the steps of the spiral staircase with glass balustrade in the Apple Retail Store on 5th Avenue
The Apple Cube made of glass panes with an integrated, illuminated Apple logo at the entrance to the Apple Retail Store in New York at night with pedestrians

interior design with glass balustrade

A new highlight of the interior design is a stainless steel and glass spiral staircase inspired by an aircraft turbine. The spiral staircase, with its glass balustrade, winds around a load-bearing steel elevator shaft clad in mirror-polished stainless steel panels, with a glass elevator car at its center.
 

engineered glass balustrade

The stair treads cantilever out from the elevator shaft. The treads are supported by 130 mm thick, high-strength stainless steel rods, and the undersides of the steps are crafted from mirror-polished stainless steel sheets. Each tread is secured to the glass stringer with a single point support. The balustrade consists of multiple 3 x 12 mm laminated glass panels joined along the handrail for added stability.

 

Awards for the retail project

NYCxDESIGN Awards – Winner, Iconic Project, Retail 2024
ArchDaily Building of the Year Awards – Retail Project of the Year 2021
Prix Versailles – Shops & Stores, North America 2020
SARA NY Awards of Excellence 2020
New York Design Award Silver – Commercial, Constructed 2019

#madebyseele

Structural glass façade including double glass doors and glass canopy — cylindrical steel elevator shaft with stainless steel cladding and steel and glass elevator car

500 sqm
all-glass façade and roof
42
stainless steel treads
15
CVG panels for glass balustrade
10.3 x 3.3 m
façade panels
further projects
Luminous, irregular glass roof with square glass panels at the Chadstone Shopping Centre in Melbourne, Australia

chadstone shopping centre

melbourne, australia
The Apple retail design of the Apple Store Al Maryah Island is a pavilion with structural glazing, elevated on black granite steps.

apple retail store al maryah island

abu dhabi, uae