Foster + Partners' Apple BKC, India's First Flagship Store, Opens to the Public

Apple BKC, the first Apple flagship store in India, was recently announced to have opened by Foster + Partners. The store is in a prime spot on Jio World Drive, a new shopping district in the Bandra Kurla Complex. The head of Foster + Partners’s studio, Stefan Behling, talked about working with Apple on their first flagship store in India: “We are happy to be working with Apple on their first flagship store in India. Apple BKC represents Mumbai’s innovative spirit. Finely made components, locally sourced materials, and abundant flora are all included in the design to ” stimulate the senses and lift the soul.”

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Apple BKC Design Concept

The borders between the store’s interior and exterior are porous, allowing vegetation from the street to seep inside. The 8-meter-high glass facade furthers this fluid transition between the spacious multiply-height interior and the surrounding landscape. A series of ficus trees runs down the inside of the glass, emphasizing the store’s connection to its planted surroundings.

Dazzling Apple products are on the whole show at the store’s ground level along aisles and display tables. The Forum is a multipurpose event and instructional area with a massive video wall that airs “Today at Apple.” Visitors’ eyes are led to the acoustically brilliant white feature wall encircled by a colonnade.

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The ground floor and the overhanging mezzanine are linked by a stunning staircase constructed of stainless steel and two 14-meter-long glass railings. From the upper floor, visitors can take in a breathtaking panorama of the public plaza and its manicured surroundings below.

Apple BKC is a harmonious blend of local craftsmanship and Apple’s signature aesthetic. The handmade timber ceiling continues past the glass façade and up the lower portion of the outer canopy, further emphasizing the seamless transition between the indoors and outdoors.

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Apple BKC’s intricate triangular grid ceiling, constructed of 450,000 individual timber parts, reflects the building’s distinctive architectural design. Taking cues from Mumbai’s cane and ratan artisans, each of the thousand ceiling tiles is constructed from 400 pieces of environmentally friendly oak timber in a grid-like woven form.

The building’s outside is a double-height glass façade mirrored internally by two stone walls that beckon you within. The stone comes from Rajasthan, and its fine grain is reminiscent of the smooth texture of expensive georgette fabrics. To earn a LEED Platinum certification, the Apple BKC store uses solar energy generated by a system specifically for that purpose.