One of the largest Apple stores in Asia, with a floating glass staircase and a dramatic cantilevered floor extending 12 metres from the rear wall.

Apple Westlake, Hangzhou, is one of the largest Apple retails stores in Asia. Eckersley O’Callaghan engineered the design of the structural glass facade which stands 15 metres tall. The 11 double-glazed panels are among the largest panels of glass fabricated at the time. The panels are supported by glass fins to achieve maximum transparency.

The design features a floating glass staircase and a dramatic cantilevered floor, which extends 12 metres from the rear wall like a diving board, tapering from 1.2 metres to just 10 centimetres. This upper floor creates a nine-metre-high space intended to evoke ‘a sense of space and calm’.

The feature glass staircase adopts new laminated insert fittings that we have developed in collaboration with the architect and the glass processors Sedak.

Location
Hangzhou, China

Client
Apple

Architect
Foster + Partners