Tabletops: Al Maryah Island
Apple Al Maryah Island
Apple Al Maryah Island opened on Friday in Abu Dhabi. Let's take a closer look at the details and contextualize the store in its surroundings.
Location
To fully appreciate this new store, we must start by leaving it. In fact, we'll need to leave Al Maryah Island altogether and take a look from the other side of the water:
That trapezoidal building is home to Abu Dhabi Global Market, an international finance center. Right below it is Apple Al Maryah Island. What a view.
Once you're on the island, there are two ways to approach and enter the store. The first is from the shoreline promenade, where two identical ramps bridge steps of cascading water. In a way, the store becomes its own island within an island, perched like a jewel box atop a glimmering sea.
The second way to enter the store is from inside The Galleria Al Maryah Island Mall. I love this amazing sunset view by Ill-Sam Park:
Here's how Apple describes the hypnotic passageway between the mall and store:
Visitors entering from The Galleria Al Maryah Island Mall will walk through a mirrored stainless steel portal, enveloped by the sights and sounds of water jets cascading over exterior glass walls. A 72-foot-long mirrored foil ceiling creates a kaleidoscopic effect, with water falling down the walls, and reflections seen above.
This passageway might be the most visually complex feat of architecture in any Apple Store project to date. I don't think photos and videos can accurately convey the depth of the illusion at work here, so let's try to break it down and understand what's going on.
First is the mirrored stainless steel portal. The panels of the portal angle inward, as shown in this photo by @shaijieee:
When combined with the mirrored foil ceiling, the result is a mesmerizing brain teaser that defies reality. Check out this illusion captured by @appleholic:
Next are the walls, which shimmer and dance as you walk through the tunnel. Lights at floor level fire upward to illuminate the panels. Two elements work in concert here: the water and the glass.
Water is cascading past the walls, though not in the fountain jet style of Apple Piazza Liberty. In still photos, the effect is mostly invisible from the exterior of the tunnel. My best guess is that water is essentially pouring over the walls or sandwiched between two layers of glass.
The glass has a pinstripe texture, but not *that* pinstripe texture. This striping is more dimensional and opaque to scatter and reflect light — perhaps it's etched. Apple Sanlitun uses a similar type of glass for privacy on its Boardroom window.
Put it all together, and you get an experience a little bit like this:
Use your imagination, because internet video compression turns the dynamic intensity of the walls into pseudo-static reminiscent of analog tv. This is a store that needs to be visited to be fully understood.
Materials
Most significant Apple Stores use unique materials sensitive to their surroundings. At Apple Al Maryah Island, the exterior ramps and flooring are paved with Absolute Black granite. In practice, this means there's more contrast and light absorption in this store. That's a good thing, since Abu Dhabi is sunny and warm all year.
Also new is an affinity for gold. Both the carbon fiber roof and fabric ceiling have a golden hue, firsts for any location. I interpret this as a nod to the gold motifs common in traditional and contemporary Abu Dhabi architecture.
Sidenote: There is a staircase to the lower level and Backstage hidden behind the freestanding Avenues. Apple Newsroom offers this line:
Apple will also offer ongoing personal advice and guidance for local businesses in the dedicated Boardroom.
One of the items on my list of future topics for this newsletter reads, "Is the Boardroom dead?" Not yet, apparently!
Featured image
Apple Park Visitor Center
Photo via Kaitlyn Del Valle on Instagram.
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