Apple Light Ceiling

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The Light Ceiling evokes the effect of arriving under a day-lit canopy and complements the visual impact of the glass stairs, creating a dynamic entrance into the store and its upper level.

In 2004, Apple opened its first European high-profile store in London‘s Regent Street, to great acclaim. The design is based on previous stores in the USA and Japan and includes previous architectural features such as the all-glass stair and bridge. Most of the existing high-profile stores have a skylight over the stair, but in the Regent Street store, located inside a 6-storey building, it has been substituted by the ‘Light Ceiling’. This design has also been employed in the Nagoya Apple Store, Tokyo.

To simulate the effect of arriving under a day-lit canopy the Light Ceiling uses 24 large tilted planes of etched semi-reflective glass and subtle contrasts in colour between different types of lighting to play with perceptions of inside and outside. The shadows and the image of people using the glass stair are projected onto the ceiling from lights beneath the stair bringing a dynamism to the space.

Each ceiling panel is constructed as 6m by 0.75m units using a single, custom-etched and coated sheet of low-iron glass, bonded to a stainless steel sheet, with integrated lighting and reflectors. Two independently-controlled lamp sources concealed behind the panel allow the colour of the light to be varied infinitely between blue and white to evoke the reflected colour of the sky. To highlight the visual impact of the stairs, the tilt directon of the panels creates a dynamic effect as visitors move within the store.

Image: Hufton + Crow

Images: Hufton + Crow

Images: Hufton + Crow

Image: Hufton + Crow

Image: Hufton + Crow