Apple Amsterdam
Amsterdam (Netherlands, Europe)
Apple Amsterdam (Netherlands, Europe)
10/24/19
It was the 24 October 2019 when I traveled to Amsterdam for the second time in my life. First, I needed clarification about the airport and the train station. I had no idea how to get to my friends for a meet-up, but somehow I made it. After a beautiful breakfast in a tiny bistro on the corner of a building, we managed to get to the Apple Store in Amsterdam. This was more than a regular visit because Apple Amsterdam reopened after renovating. The store got a Forum for Today at Apple sessions. All tables were rotated by 180 degrees to create a more fluid structure. My friend and I waited in front of the store to get our Apple badges, and after a cheerful celebration, we could take some photos of the new store at the reopening.
First, let's talk about the remarkable architecture of Apple Amsterdam, which was created by Alphons Jacot and Jan Gerard Snuijf. The store is located in the Hirsch building, and this building is named after Hirsch & Cie, the first actual fashion store in Amsterdam. The name Hirsch comes from the founder of the brand - Léo Hirsch. They introduced haute couture in the Netherlands and were the first to organize fashion shows. The outer appearance of the building consists of grey sandstone from the Arzville region and beige sandstone from Emzen in Luxemburg. The Hirsch building is not symmetrical because on one side are eight shop windows, and on the other are just seven. In detail, the two windows have different sizes because they were the original entrance to the fashion store back then. The Dutch Apple flagship store opened its doors for the first time in 2012 when the Hirsch building was precisely 100 years old. It is a corner store just like Apple Schildergasse in Cologne (Germany), Apple Kärtner Street in Vienna (Austria), Apple Passeig de Gràcia in Barcelona (Portugal), and some other famous Apple Retail Stores in France.
At first glance, you see the beautiful curved glass staircase of Apple Amsterdam, highlighted by some LEDs arranged in the same position inside the ceiling and the floor. On the ground floor are all major products, including iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches, Macs, and accessories. On this floor are many different accessories, including headphones and photography, but let's look upstairs. This floor also has the all-new Forum, dedicated to large Today at Apple sessions with many visitors. When I was there, some Apple Creatives hosted an interesting design session about Procreate for some customers. It is stunning to see customers from around the world learning more about sketching even without any language skills in Dutch because the massive Video Wall always supports the Creatives and customers. The sunlight that shines through the glass roof over the Forum creates a bright and relaxing area. Apple Amsterdam also has some Ficus trees that create an even better ambiance, and you can sit on the leather seat, which is also a tree pot.
I love the walls on which different colored Apple products are hung in a structured way! The upper floor features many Apple products and a dedicated AirPods and Beats wall with four TVs, which show one of the impressive and award-winning AirPods ads. This wall has a variety of accessories, and next to it is a dedicated Apple TV wall. But we can never forget the Apple Arcade wall, which is supported by six iPad Pros that display many games and form an entire display area. You can see this wall in many Apple Stores worldwide and the health accessories wall.
Moreover, Apple Amsterdam has a stunning Boardroom for business customers because it is a flagship store. The Boardroom has two different seating areas: one for many people in front of a TV or one with a saddle brown leather couch and two chairs. This room has some interesting details, for instance, the book "Savage Beauty" by the British fashion designer and couturier Lee Alexander McQueen, the Atollo glass lamp, Hiroshima armchairs, and, like in some Apple Boardrooms, a leftover stone from the stairs of London's Apple Regent Street. Here are other book titles that were present at Apple Amsterdam: "Gerhard Richter | Panorama" by Nicholas Serota; Grace; Morphosis; "Brick (Architecture Generale)" by William Hall; "Agnes Martin: Paintings, Writings, Remembrances by Arne Glimcher (20th-century living masters" by Arne Glimcher.
Besides, here are some interesting details about Apple in the Netherlands. The Apple Watch as a cellular model is unavailable because of the lack of E-Sim providers for Dutch users. This means you can buy neither an aluminum cellular version, a stainless steel version, or any edition version in the Netherlands because these include cellular automatically. Apple Amsterdam also once had the most extended Genius Bar in the world, with a length of 66 feet (≈ 20,12 meters) and 34 stools. In addition, the ceiling stucco includes a hidden airflow as a kind of air conditioning, and it also integrates an acoustic panel. Between our visits to Apple Amsterdam, we went to a tiny and cute restaurant named "Gartine," which was the recommendation of a friend. They had a special tea offer, and the food tasted amazing. I truly recommend it. Feel free to contact me for other photos, advice, or tips for my next visit to Amsterdam/the Netherlands. I hope you enjoyed this article and the images about my short trip to Amsterdam! You can find more photos of Apple Amsterdam under this blog post; just scroll/swipe down.
ALL photos were taken with an iphone 11 pro max
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