A render by Foster + Partners of Apple’s soon to be constructed Spaceship campus

Following a report earlier this month that Apple’s Spaceship campus project had increased to nearly $5B as lead architect Foster + Partners attempted to trim around a billion from the budget, a new report today claims Apple is now working with the architecture company on other projects. Marketingmagazine claims “sources close to the project” say Foster will soon be assisting Apple with the design of its retail stores:

Sources close to the project said Foster + Partners, which has designed buildings including the McLaren Technology Centre and Hearst Tower in New York, is helping Apple on the retail store design brief. A Foster + Partners spokeswoman said: “Any project for Apple is confidential and therefore we are unable to comment.”

At this point we have no confirmation from Apple or Foster, but it wouldn’t be much of a stretch that Apple could tap talent from the architecture firm after forming a strong relationship through the spaceship campus project.

As noted in the report, Apple has long worked with design company 8 Inc for many of its flagship stores, but it has worked with others. 8 Inc is responsible for some of Apple’s most iconic retail locations such as the 5th Avenue store in New York and the Regent Street store in the UK.

(via Pocket-Lint)

Update: A reliable source tells us that Apple and Foster + Partners have been working together on retail for a number of years.

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