House of glass: Exterior of new Apple store in Highland Village is (sort of) revealed

Apple has been so secretive about its new Highland Village store that it has kept the construction site enclosed in a protective casing, so no one could see what it looks like. So we were surprised to pass by on Saturday afternoon and notice that some of the covering had fallen off, revealing the glass exterior.

It seems to confirm local Apple afficiando Tracy Evans' reports last month that the new store — the first non-mall location in Houston for the computer/phone giant — will resemble an Apple store on New York's Upper West Side that one architecture critic has described as "a pavilion of marble and sheer glass walls . . . a composition as austerely purposeful as a classic Greek temple."

The Houston store, located at 4012 Westheimer, is two stories tall, with a glass facade that extends to a glass ceiling, bound by walls of Tennessee marble. Last month, ifoApplestore.com reported that the back of the Houston store will also be made of glass, with an entrance at both ends and adjacent space for storage.

Even though the construction site is jammed with workers, don't expect the store to open any time soon. A security guard on the site told CultureMap the interior of the store "has a long way to go before it's finished."