Foster-Partners-designed new store Apple at the heart of Shanghai's Jing'an District

Apple Jing’an is a new Apple store and urban regeneration project located in the heart of Shanghai’s Jing'an District...

all photos © Nigel Young / Foster + Partners

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From the architect: A new circular public plaza has been carefully recreated to enhance connectivity between the historic Jing’an Temple and Jing’an Park, which are located on either side of Nanjing Road. The project knits together the city’s urban fabric with the major metro interchange below to create a new active public space for the city of Shanghai.

Stefan Behling, Head of Studio, Foster + Partners, said: “We are delighted to have been given this great responsibility to create this transformative project for Shanghai. Our design reimagines the original plaza as a vibrant new public space, which provides places to sit and relax, drawing people in and respectfully enhancing the setting for the beautiful Jing’an Temple.”

The permeable new plaza connects different pedestrian flows across multiple levels and includes a gently sloping landscaped skywalk, which integrates an elevated gallery with terraced seating for the public to enjoy views of the temple. The plaza’s circular geometry encourages social interactions and reinforces a sense of community to create a new gathering space in the city. Seasonal planting has been integrated within the hardscape spaces to complement the warm tones of the temple and soften the urban edges. The regionally sourced Padang Light stone on the plaza flows through the interior to line the walls and floor of the store, creating a seamless transition from outside to inside.

The store itself is nestled within an existing structure below Jing’an Park, with its main entrance on the plaza. Visitors descend from the plaza into the Forum, a bright double-height space, via a central stone staircase. This dramatic arrival sequence is replicated when people enter the store via the underground metro interchange, which directly connects to the double-height space of the store via curved ramps to improve accessibility.

The large disc-shaped central light in the ceiling above the Forum is illuminated by a large backlit panel that simulates daylight using tunable white lighting technology. As night descends, the intensity of light shifts to a warmer tone to mimic the ambient lighting. Additional lighting layers include accent lighting for products and wall-washers along the store’s perimeter.

A spectacular undulating timber ceiling follows the store’s circular geometry, wrapping around a central oculus and gently sloping upwards towards the main entrance, to bring in natural light from the plaza. The circular plaza, store entrance, interior staircase and Forum are all aligned on the central axis of the temple, offering direct views of the historic landmark from the inside and along each point of the journey between the different spaces.

The new development is respectful to both the temple and the park – which have their own distinct identities. The project aims to preserve these qualities and enhance their context, creating a complementary and natural addition to the surrounding urban realm.