With projects like Portland’s airport extension and the world’s tallest wooden tower, modern timber architecture is poised to revolutionize sustainable construction in the United States. Apple has embraced this wooden boom with its new store, which was predominantly built using timber.
Apple Miami Worldcenter is located in the city’s downtown and is part of a larger development push in the area. It’s predominantly built from wood sourced in the region and boosts its green cred further by running from 100% renewable energy (though Apple doesn’t specify exactly where this energy comes from).
According to Dezeen, Apple actually handled the design of this one in-house, which is unusual, as the tech giant typically collaborates with prestigious UK firm Foster + Partners. Still, it’s a quintessential Apple Store, with a sleek low-rise exterior subtly nodding to Miami’s Art Deco architecture and is defined by generous glazing.
The interior, meanwhile, embraces the natural beauty of the wood and offers the usual trendy minimalist experience that any visitor to an Apple Store has come to expect. It includes product displays and areas for demonstrations, as well as the so-called Genius Bar. Alongside the use of wood, it sports biomass-based flooring.
Apple
“Created from the ground up to reflect Apple’s values, Apple Miami Worldcenter is built with the environment in mind using a regionally sourced mass timber structure and other low-carbon materials, which significantly reduced the carbon intensity of its construction,” says the firm. “Like all Apple facilities, Apple Miami Worldcenter’s operations run on 100 percent renewable energy and are carbon neutral.
“Apple Miami Worldcenter also features a biophilic design that helps connect customers to the beautiful green spaces surrounding the store. Upon entry, customers and the local community are welcomed by the grounds blooming with plants and flora inspired by the multicultural Latin American influence of Miami.”
Whenever wooden buildings are discussed, fire risks are usually high among the concerns. However, mass timber products like CLT (cross-laminated timber) used to create the Apple Miami Worldcenter are not like old-fashioned timber-framed buildings and consist of many layers of wood glued together to create an extremely strong structure. Counterintuitively, research has even shown that this modern engineered wood can actually outperform steel in a fire and will char slowly rather than burn.
Source: Apple
