Apple, which has changed the way we engage with technology with its clever designs, has been honoured by a New York preservation group for its sympathetic repurposing of old buildings.

It has been awarded the New York Landmarks Conservancy Chairman’s Award for its “contribution to preserving, restoring, and repurposing notable historic structures in New York City”.

Apple has completed four stores in historic buildings, most notable among them is its very sympathetic integration of an outlet on a balcony at Grand Central Station, one of New York’s most architecturally striking buildings.

In SoHo, the company restored an old Beaux Arts Post Office, inserting a new interior with a glass tread staircase.

All of the Manhattan Apple store locations were designed by US architecture firm Bohlin Cywinski Jackson.

Minimalist buildings

By stark contrast, Apple’s global store rollout is probably best known for its minimalist contemporary buildings, many of them variations on a glass box design.

Its latest major architectural projects include a store in Hangzhou in China and a mile-long ring-shaped headquarters at Silicon Valley (known as the Spaceship), both designed by UK firm Foster + Partners.