Take a trip to the lost Melbourne Apple Store with these mind-blowing images

When Apple decides to open a new flagship Apple Store, it selects prominent locations and has visions of unique architectural concepts. Such was the case in 2017, when Apple announced its intentions for a new store in Federation Square, or “Fed Square” as the locals of Melbourne, Australia, put it. Fed Square is located in Melbourne’s Art Precinct, known locally as “the artistic heart” of the city.

Sounds like an ideal place to put a flagship Apple Store, doesn’t it? Well, not long after Apple announced its “most significant store in the Southern Hemisphere,” the community voiced its objections, fearing that Apple’s building would harm the location’s cultural relevance. Eventually, Heritage Victoria, a government regulator that monitors historic sites, rejected an application for the demolition of the Yarra Building to make way for the Apple Store. That rejection killed the Federation Square Apple Store project.

However, that Apple Store does live–virtually, at least, thanks to Filip Chudzinski, a Germany-based designer. Chudzinki created an Apple Federation Store gallery that displays renderings of his ideas of what that store would be like. Chudzinki’s images are “based on a limited selection of reports, images, and plans from the public preview of the project’s second proposal.”

Chudzinski’s images feature a two-story mostly glass building that simultaneously stands out and blends in with its environment. A metal mesh screen on one of the sides of the building can retract to allow more sunlight in. The lower floor would be the traditional retail space, while the upper level would be for Today at Apple sessions and customer support. The building would overlook the Yarra River.

Below is a selection of our favorite images but there are many more. Be sure to check out Chudzinski’s full gallery, which includes an animation of the retracting mesh screens, spatial photos for Apple Vision Pro users, and downloadable wallpapers for your Mac.