On June 24, Apple opens its newest store at the historic Tower Theatre in downtown Los Angeles. Considered as one of the tech giant’s most ambitious restoration projects to date, the retail space has beautifully revived Los Angeles’s very first theatre wired for films with sound—an iconic local landmark designed by renowned motion-picture theatre architect S. Charles Lee in 1927. The building has been mostly vacant and unused after its closure in 1988, despite occasional one-off performances.
For the project, which took years of work and dedication, Apple has collaborated with leading artists and preservationists to bring the building back to its glory days. They have thoughtfully preserved the grandeur of the original theatre, while breathing new life into the structure, as reflected in features such as the fully restored clock tower, recreated Broadway marquee, clean terra cotta exterior and renovated historic blade sign. According to the press release, the new store will see nearly 100 retail team members, delivering top-notch services and product support.
Tower Theatre was the first theater in Los Angeles wired for films with sound (Photo: Courtesy of Apple)
Photo: Courtesy of Apple
Commissioned art for the new store symbolizes the intersection of liberal arts and technology (Photo: Courtesy of Apple)
The theater’s original balcony seating has been modernized and made accessible, creating an open, flexible space for Genius Bar appointments (Photo: Courtesy of Apple)
Photo: Courtesy of Apple
The Forum is at the heart of the theater, which has been reimagined for Today at Apple sessions (Photo: Courtesy of Apple)
The restored stained-glass window features a unique fleur-de-lis pattern with a coiled celluloid film strip and the purple stripe found only on early sound film (Photo: Courtesy of Apple)
Photo: Courtesy of Apple
