Apple's new flagship store is taking shape along the Chicago River near Tribune Tower and the Wrigley Building. (Nancy Stone / Chicago Tribune)

Right now, the glass walls starting to encircle Apple's new flagship store alongside the Chicago River, by North Michigan Avenue, don't look like much. That's exactly the point.

Eventually the scaffolding will be taken down, leaving floor-to-ceiling glass walls opening a view from the Pioneer Court plaza to the river.

"We wanted the building to be as light and transparent as possible," said James McGrath, a partner at Foster + Partners, the London-based architectural firm that designed the Chicago store and Apple's Cupertino, Calif., headquarters.

Apple isn't saying when its $27 million store under construction in front of 401 N. Michigan Ave. will open, but sources have said it is targeting October.

The roof is made from a lightweight material used in yacht hulls to keep it thin — 4 feet thick at its widest point and 4 inches at its narrowest, with an Apple logo on top.

The store will have many of the new elements introduced at a San Francisco Apple store that opened last year, McGrath said, including the outdoor plaza, a gathering place centered around a video wall Apple calls "The Forum" that can host events and classes, a stretch of windowlike displays showing off products and indoor ficus trees.

Early images of the store's design drew comparisons to a high-tech take on Frank Lloyd Wright's Prairie-style homes. Foster + Partners wasn't trying to echo Wright's aesthetic, but McGrath said the connection wasn't surprising.

Source: chicagotribune