Apple has a habit of making architecture feel effortless. New stores are constructed in the physical sense, but in the public consciousness they simply appear, fully realized and glowing in the evening twilight. Their designs are just as carefree: carbon fiber roofs floating in midair, glass curtains that appear to defy gravity, and urban settings that feel practically utopian. Of course the Apple Store is here.
All of that carefully-orchestrated magic conceals just how long some new stores take to go from concept to reality, and how much tenacity is required just to put the first shovel in the ground. Take Apple Boylston Street, for example. According to Ron Johnson, Apple began location scouting in Boston as early as 2000. The first public reference I can find to the Boylston Street site is a mysterious post on the defunct rumor blog LoopRumors published on February 2, 2006 — more than two years before the store opened. A unnamed public official spilled the beans one week later, beginning what would become a protracted and tiresome volley between Apple and Boston’s Back Bay Architectural Commission.
Much ink was spilled over the fate of Copy Cop, the modest print shop Apple planned to demolish to build its landmark. Commission members hoped to engage in a bit of facadism with Copy Cop’s 1906 entrance in a bid to preserve the visual consistency of the block. The rest of the building had already been stripped of its original character as… a tire shop.
The commission’s approach to historical preservation, seemingly inspired by the studio backlot of a 1950s western film, wasn’t going to cut it for Apple. This scathing analysis of the jam published by Boston’s Weekly Dig held nothing back, and also noted that Apple would consider abandoning its efforts entirely if the store plan was ultimately rejected:
In last week’s Globe, Apple’s lawyer, Stephen Miller, raised the possibility that if Apple isn’t allowed to demolish the Copy Cop building, it may not be interested in developing the site.
A preliminary rendering of the store appeared in June 2006, and Apple spent the summer making its case for the building’s glass curtain, which commission members worried might shed too much light in the evening. One design revision added columns to alter the facade’s visual rhythm. Boston eventually approved the plans, but not before construction was further delayed by the owner of the building next door, who opposed the removal of a fire escape that lead to the roof of Copy Cop.
At a Boston Redevelopment Authority meeting in October 2006, Apple noted that Boylston Street would be its first three-story store. While technically true at the time, (Apple West 14th Street had yet to open) it’s a hilarious interpretation of the facts. Apple Ginza, famously, was a five-story store.
In March 2007, Apple’s longtime retail partner Shawmut announced construction had begun. At the same time, Gary Allen of ifoAppleStore partnered with Tech Superpowers, a computer service and repair shop located (literally) in Apple’s backyard, to setup a live-streaming webcam of the store’s construction. The stream’s website is long forgotten, but combing through the depths of Archive.org, I was able to rescue several clips early in the demolition of Copy Cop. I’ve stitched the clips together into one sped-up time lapse that you can watch here. The time lapse represents eight days of demolition from February 21 through March 16, 2007.
Construction continued through 2007 and culminated in April 2008, when Apple unveiled a reproduction of Boston’s “Green Monster,” the nickname affectionately given to the famous left field wall at Fenway Park. The green theme extended to the store’s souvenir shirt and opening day signage. Serendipitously, the store also featured a green roof. The special edition Boylston Street iPod Socks, however, were red.
At opening, Apple Boylston Street was the largest Apple Store in the U.S. and one of the most structurally unique, featuring a glass staircase taller than Apple Fifth Avenue’s and an entrance that foreshadowed the design of Apple Sydney, which opened one month later.
Despite the size, Apple apparently ran out of room Backstage, and in 2022 filed permits to add a remote Backstage area on the third floor of the Mandarin Oriental hotel across the street. This isn’t the first time Apple has outgrown its leased space and built a remote facility, but it’s striking given the size and grandeur of the store. The plans add just under 3,000 square feet of break rooms and offices.
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