The newly opened Apple Chicago store design has been described by its creators as the brand’s “most ambitious yet”.

The store, rising up from the city’s river-edge, is the latest design from Foster + Partners, whose recent creations for Apple include the Orchard Road store in Singapore.

When viewed from above, the store’s silver roof measuring 33.8m  by 29.8m, resembles the lid of an Apple Macbook laptop.

Online design magazine Dezeen reports the the Apple Michigan Avenue store is located beside North Michigan Avenue – also known as the Magnificent Mile – and in front of the higher-level Pioneer Court, a public plaza.

Foster + Partners placed a pair of granite staircases either side of the store to create a new pathway from the plaza to the river esplanade, while the huge glass walls rising 10m to maintain views from this public space and the water.

The carbon-fibre roof atop is designed to be as slim as possible and supported by four internal pillars to keep the glass walls free.

“Apple Michigan Avenue is about removing boundaries between inside and outside, reviving important urban connections within the city,” said Apple’s chief designer Jonathan Ive.

Like the recently completed Singapore store, the Apple Chicago store includes a public space upstairs which doubles as a relaxation area and education venue.

Besides designing stores, London-based Foster + Partners completed Apple Park, the brand’s huge circular headquarters in Cupertino, California.

More photos here.