Gorgeous new Apple store is powered entirely by renewable energy in Paris | Inhabitat – Green Design, Innovation, Architecture, Green Building

The latest Apple store designed by Foster + Partners has opened in a beautifully renovated 19th-century building on Paris’s Champs-Élysées. Powered with 100 percent renewable energy, Apple Champs-Élysées draws energy from the photovoltaic panels integrated into its kaleidoscopic roof light and collects rainwater for reuse in the bathrooms and irrigation systems. Described by Apple as the tech company’s “grandest Forum,” the retail location blends historic architecture with contemporary design in a light-filled setting filled with greenery.

Located on the corner of Champs-Élysées and Rue Washington, Apple Champs-Élysées is housed within a Haussmann-era apartment building. In addition to the careful restoration of the 19th-century facade and entryway, Foster + Partners also extended original materials—such as the exterior Burgundy stone and French oak parquet flooring—throughout the building to achieve an appearance the firm describes as a “Parisian apartment.”

The entryway, which branches off to display spaces on either side, leads to the recently revived courtyard flanked with large mature trees and bathed in daylight. Above, the kaleidoscopic solar roof light is fitted with mirrored pyramids that reflect dappled sunlight into the interior. The original timber and marble scalier d’honneur (grand staircase) connects the ground floor to the floors above, where rooms are equipped with balconies opening onto the Champs-Élysées.

“This is one of the most unique Apple Flagships in the world, located along the world’s most beautiful avenue,” Stefan Behling, Head of Studio, Foster + Partners said. “In true Parisian style it is rich in texture and envelopes a range of experiences that stimulate your senses. This is emblematic of the idea of juxtaposition that runs throughout the interior spaces, bringing together the historic and contemporary, interior and exterior, and ground and sky. As a place that inspires creativity, I love the fact that this was previously home to the aviation genius Alberto Santos-Dumont.”