A Case Study of the Apple Computer Stores -

Glass Structures 2001 - 2005

James OCallaghan BEng (Hons), CEng, MIStructE
Director Eckersley OCallaghan Structural Design

Keywords

1=Laminating 2=Structural Glass 3=Connections

Abstract;
The author describes the history of
the development of the feature glass
structures that have been the focus
of the architectural design of the high
prole Apple Computer stores in the
USA, UK and Japan between 2001 and
2005.
The author has been the principle
designer for these structures throughout
the world and this paper follows the
developments in glass design and
innovative connection methods adopted
leading to their design and realisation.
The author goes on to describe the
importance of the client, designer team
and fabricator relationship and the
responsible has been fundamental to itself to the need for a physical bridge
their success. connection between the upper levels
of the retail zones over the proposed
Concept; location for the glass stair. The solution
to this was very quickly realised as a
The initial concept developed was to
glass bridge.
create a structure that would allow
The original format for store was
maximum transparency through the
the blueprint for the rst four US stores
space and not defer customers views
in New York, Chicago, San Francisco
of the products displayed. At the same
and Los Angeles. Stores in Japan have
time the importance of design to Apple
developed signicantly from this and
led them to strongly want a series of
this paper describes these evolutions
structures that were not only functional
and the consequent effects on the
but also magical, structures that had a
structural glass design.
major wow factor and would grab the
fascination of the customers in the store
Apple Stores New York, Chicago,
environment itself. Clearly these magical
San Francisco and London
structures would be complemented with

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levels of achievement possible through very highly rened architectural design The rst store in New York set the

Case Studies
a collaborative team approach and and nishes. theme for all the other stores listed
long term relationship understanding The high prole stores all have at above. The focus of these stores being
between all parties. least two levels and for this reason it an all glass stair case and a glass bridge
was suggested by the author that a between the upper retail zones.
Introduction; glass stair would be feasible to transport
customers from one level to another. Staircase Design;
Apple Computer Inc embarked in
The idea of the glass stair proved and
2001on worldwide retail expansion plan Glass Treads;
immediate success as an idea as it
through the construction of high prole
fullled the brief of allowing maximum The overall clear span of the treads is
retail outlets. These types of stores have
visual corridors throughout the lower 2.45m and the loading for the treads is
been created in the following cities;
level to open the store up an express the generally around 4.5kN/m2 depending
New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los
product. on the store location and the loading
Angeles, Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and
The architectural design of the code adopted. It was the design intent
London. Innovative design aesthetic
concept high prole store also lent to develop a stair tread that was as thin
being at the core of Apples product
development, it was seen that these
high prole stores should reect this
company policy in some manner.
Through a close working relationship
with the architects Bohlin Cywinski
Jackson in Berkeley, California, the
author was able to put forward the idea
of an all glass staircase and bridge as
the core design features within the high
prole stores.
This paper presentation studies
the glass structures designed and
constructed in all of the above locations,
it focuses on the innovative techniques
use in design and fabrication. Further it
goes on to study the importance of the
relationship between client, design team
and fabricator in the realisation of highly
ambitious glass structures.
This portfolio now represents some
of the most signicant commercially
utilized glass structures around the
world today. The techniques developed
during the years they have been Image 1 Image 2
evolving and the ambition of the team Night view of stair and bridge - NY Glass stair with trafc - NY

GLASS PROCESSING DAYS 2005 - www.gpd.fi 1

 as possible whilst safely resisting the enhance the clarity and whiteness periods after the autoclave process
forces imposed in both its serviceability of the low iron glass used in this varied from a few hours to a few days.
state and its fractured state. sapplication. There appeared to be a compatibility
Furthermore the deection of the tread issue between the glass and metal insert
was to be kept within a comfortable Glass Tread Insert Development; during the cooling and contraction
range in order the keep the natural period after the autoclave.
A primary focus of the initial design
frequency above the advisable threshold
was a method by which the glass treads
of 5Hz.
could be connected to the vertical
Various glass congurations were
glass support walls that moved away
considered for the tread taking into
from the more typical methods of
account strength, durability and
providing a frame around the tread or
appearance. The client was looking for
locally supporting the glass with clips.
a very sharp aesthetic with a patterned
A method that looked to integrate
surface to the tread similar to that
the support with the glass itself was
found on chequer plate steel. There
considered the design aim. This was
were two key reasons to use an all-
achieved by experimenting with the
annealed glass tread, involving both
lamination of a metal insert within
aesthetics and durability. Firstly, it
the laminates discrete to the location
could be polished after the laminating
where support would be provided by
process, signicantly increasing the
a bolt through to the glass wall. The
sharp appearance of the edge of the
metal insert, now known as a puck,
tread. Secondly, should the top sheet be
is generally semi-circular in plan shape
clipped by foot trafc, the tread could
and is laminated in the 3rd layer of the
remain in place for a reasonable amount
tread laminate. The main reason for the
of time without needing replacement,
plan shape was to ease the build up of
whereas a tempered glass sheet that
local stresses around the metal insert
failed would compromise the aesthetic.
both during the lamination process
Key also to the development
and as it would transfer load from the
of the tread itself was that of the
tread through the bolt into the glass
interlayer choice. After calculations and
supporting wall.
consideration of aesthetics a Sentry
This innovative approach required Figure 2
Glass Plus interlayer fabricated by
testing to establish its feasibility as a FEA output illustrating stress concentrations in
Dupont was proposed for the following glass tread around the titanium inserts
potential method of connecting glass
reasons;
to other mediums. It was understood
The interlayer has a superior stiffness
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from Dupont that the sentry glass plus

to that of a regular PVB interlayer
interlayer had superior ow properties
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allowing a greater transfer of shear

to that of PVB during the lamination
between layers of glass under both
process as well as superior bonding
short term and long term loading
properties between glass and metals.
conditions. The result of this being
A nite element model to predict the
the signicant reduction in
local stress build up around the tting
deections experienced for the same
during load transfer.
loading scenarios as that of PVB.
The rst series of tests were not
With increased stiffness performance
promising with the trial materials used
comes the ability to minimize the
for the puck being stainless steel (of
overall thickness of the glass tread
various grades such as 316L and 17-
beneting the overall aesthetic of the
4PH) and aluminum. Some of the treads
tread.
cracked during the lamination process,
Sentry glass plus when laminated
some through the autoclave process,
does not posses the slight yellow tint
the majority appeared to be ne once
that can be found in many more
out of the autoclave but some others
typical Butyl interlayers that helps to
cracked after periods of time. The time
Further study by Dr Steve Bennison
of Dupont revealed that materials
with closer thermal expansion and
conductance properties to that of glass
may be more successful. The material
chosen with a prole very close to that
of glass whilst possessing the strength
required to transfer load was titanium.
The titanium pucks are laminated
shy of the glass edge to allow for
polishing of the glass after lamination.
The method by which the glass walls
support the treads via the metal inserts
is through a saddle piece. This in turn
hooks over a barrel piece machined
from stainless steel. The barrel being
located by way of a bolt through the
intended oversized holes in the glass
wall panels. The oversized holes were
then lled. The ideal ller material
discovered for this usage was Hilti HIT
HY50, the ability to post inject a liquid
material that cures after time allowed
all lamination tolerance and hole quality
issues to be ironed out allowing for
a more predictable behaviour of load
transfer through the hole in the glass.

Figure 1
FEA output of stress build up across half of glass tread

2 GLASS PROCESSING DAYS 2005 - www.gpd.fi

Apple Store, Los Angeles, USA
Vertical glass walls support the glass
treads either side as would typically stair
stringers. The store in New York and the
store in Los Angeles vary in this support
approach. New York has vertical glass
walls that are gravity loaded at the base
and carry the load of the treads to a
base steel channel. The Los Angeles stair
has the treads supported between the
glass walls that in turn are hung from
the second oor. The magic of the Los
Angeles hanging glass wall approach
is emphasized by the manner in which
the walls levitate clear of the oor from
where the stair rises.
All staircase walls are formed from a
tri laminate of fully tempered glass. The
make up of the walls is 15mm (inner)
and two 12mm sheets. The sheets
are fabricated to various proles to
follow the stair rise and receive holes
to accommodate the bolts that in turn
support the treads. The maximum size
of the glass panels is 5.8m high x 1.6m
wide.
Image 3
View of rear of stair
Image 4
Levitating glass walls
GLASS PROCESSING DAYS 2005 - www.gpd.fi
Apple Store, Shinsaibashi, Osaka
The Osaka store demanded a very
different architectural layout to achieve
the desired store layout, this resulted
in the ideal layout of the stair being a
spiral stair located at one end of the
store linking the ground and rst oor. It
was decided this was an opportunity to
create a very spectacular glass structure
utilising the combination of technology
derived from the previous linear
staircases combined with the very best
in curved laminated glass fabrication.
The stair was completed for the opening
in August 2004.
The principle of the stair is a fully
suspended glass stair utilizing two
ribbons of glass acting as the guardrails
either side of the treads. The ribbons
wind around an outer diameter of 5.2m
Image 5
Spiral Glass
Image 6
Juxtaposition
Image 7
Treads/inner ribbon
and the inner ribbon of 1.9m dia. There
are a total of 25 treads with a glass
bridge connecting the stair to the main
oor level.
The structural design of the stair had
to respect the very high local seismic
loads. The stair being and internal
structure was designed to 0.5G lateral
load with an appropriate stiffness such
that deections would be within an
acceptable range. The vertical load of
the glass ribbons being supported via
a series of vertical stainless steel rods
anchored into the stainless steel tting
which splices the individual glass panels
forming the ribbon. This particular
splice tting is designed to provide the
necessary stiffness to emulate the glass
ribbon effectively being continuous.
The continuity of the glass ribbons is
fundamental to the overall stiffness
of the spiral in resisting lateral seismic
loads.
Similar to the family of stair
developed to date this relation has
similar details. The treads used are of
exactly the same build up of annealed
glass and diamond plate acid etched
patterning. The connection of the treads
to the curved glass side walls uses
the same tting using the laminated
titanium pucks and a saddle seat bolt
detail through the glass. The main
difference is that the curved nature of
the laminated glass walls requires a
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higher tolerance, this being achieved via
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a modication of the tting allowing
it to adjust to accommodate these
tolerances.
The glass for the spiral glass ribbons
are formed with 3x10mm thick
laminated chemically toughened glass.
The company used to achieve the
tolerances required in both curving and
the subsequent laminating was Isoclima,
Italy. The quality of the product is
outstanding, the edge tolerances being
less than 2mm between laminations on
such complex curves is rst rate.
Apple Store, Nagoya, Japan
The last of the case study example is the
most recent store, this being our rst
linear spanning glass stair. The stair was
Image 8
Guardrail glass beams
3
 Image 9
Spanning panels and splice
completed for the opening in January
2005.
This example is particularly ambitious
given that the glass guardrails either
side of the treads act as beams spanning
between the ground and rst oors.
Unlike the linear examples described
earlier in the paper, the vertical loads are
not transferred directly to the ground,
the beam action of the guardrail
provides the vertical load carrying
capacity.
This span of the stair is 6.5m and the
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rise is 3.7m with a total of 21 treads
making this stair one of, if not the,
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largest commercially utilised all glass
spanning stair in the world. There have
been examples of similar stairs built
but seeing the levels of foot trafc the
Nagoya stair sees on a daily basis.
Each guardrail beam is formed with
three panels. The panels are fabricated
from 3x15mm laminated toughened
glass spliced together with a metal strap
tension/shear tting at the lower edge
of the beam and the guardrail at the top
of the panel acting as the compression
strap between each piece of glass.
The lateral seismic loads which are
signicant in this zone are transferred
via diaphragm action of the glass stair
acting as a plate between its base and
the upper retail level. The treads are
connected to one another laterally via
the glass riser which is keyed into the
tread via a tting at its support.
Redundancy is accounted for in the
triple laminate which is designed such
that up to two layers can fail while
sustaining full design loads.
The Team;
A fundamental reason to the success
of these ambitious structural glass
projects is the focus and energy of
the team involved. The client, Apple
Computers, have the enthusiasm and
will to make this happen and with
a driving ambition like this from the
top down it creates a great deal of
motivation within the overall team. The
timescale with all these projects has
been very tight and miracles have had
to happen to ensure glass has made it
4 GLASS PROCESSING DAYS 2005 - www.gpd.fi
Figure 3
Elevation of free spanning glass stair panel conguration
to the job site and to an exacting quality
that only Apple could demand. The
client has understood the importance
of these projects in creating unique
glass structures and has been happy
to sponsor the ongoing research and
development required to make these
structures possible.
The design team has had to
remain very focused on continually
striving to make sure each successive
glass structure is a step ahead of its
predecessor in some way and yet
ensuring that the overall design theme
is not drastically changed that it could
affect the Apple brand. This subtlety has
been achieved in a number of ways with
the designs illustrated in this case study
and continues to be the aim of the team
going forward.
Finally, the contractor, Seele GmbH,
has continued to astound the team
with their level of commitment, focus
to detail and ability to continually
deliver uncompromisingly on the ideas
developed by the team. They have
proven the most reliable partner one
could wish for and have always been a
pleasure to work alongside and learn
from.
It is this mutual understanding
and respect from all levels within the
whole team from the client down that
has been the recipe for success. The
total commitment to all and the belief
that it can be achieved has resulted in
uncompromising excellence and quality.
This model has shown how what may at
rst appear to be unrealistic ambitions
and schedules can be surmounted with
every play pulling in the same direction
and supporting one another.
Summary;
The design and development of the
glass stair and bridge for the various
high prole Apple stores throughout
the world has effectively sponsored
the development of structural glass
lamination and connection technology.
The techniques used in laminating
material into glass in such a manner as
to allow direct connection of adjacent
structural glass elements is a rst on
such a large scale commercial projects.
The success of the projects and
the development in technology have
opened up the manner in which we
approach glass design. We believe this
has signicantly broadened the horizon
and possibilities of structural glass in
many different applications and has
resulted many more ambitious glass
structures being designed around the
world.
Acknowledgements;
Apple Computer Inc. (Client)
Steve Jobs-CEO, Bob Bridger, John
Hillegass
Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, Berkeley, CA
(Design Team)
Peter Bohlin, Karl Backus, Rosa Sheng,
Anastasia Congdon, Brian Padgett, Joe
Holsen
Eckersley OCallaghan (Design Team)
Graham Coult, Brian Eckersley, Philip
Khalil, Jon Corpe, Sheila Bull
Dewhurst Macfarlane and Partners PC
(Design Team)
Tim Macfarlane
Seele GmbH & Co.KG
(Glass Contractor)
Seigfried Gossner, Thomas Geissler, Nelli
Diller, Holger Krueger
Kajima Japan - Hiroyuki Sakamoto
Verroplan (Contractor Design Team)
Peter Beyle, Markus Diedrich
Tripyramid Structures Inc
Tim Eliassen, Michael Mulhern
Depp Glass Inc
Wesley Depp Snr, Wesley Depp Jnr
Bischoff Glastechnik
Gerhard Bischoff