Apple's secretive plans for an official retail store in Sydney - understood to be the first in the southern hemisphere - have been revealed in council documents, which suggest it's unlikely the store will open for business before mid-2008.

The elaborate store, which is now under construction on the corner of King Street and George Street, will spread over three levels and, according to architectural drawings, each level will have a floor space of about 445 square metres.

The company handling the store's construction, Kell & Rigby, has now been granted permission from the City of Sydney Council to perform a full road closure of George Street between King Street and Market Street on various evenings in January and February next year.

The dates suggest it is unlikely the store will open before the middle of next year, but Apple has already taken out advertisements seeking staff to work there.

"The proposed closure is required to stand a 90-tonne mobile crane in the street to help install a glass facade to the premises at 77 King Street," the council documents stated.

At the entrance to the store, Apple plans to suspend a large white Apple logo inside a transparent glass facade.

The store takes obvious design cues from the famed Fifth Avenue Apple outlet in New York City, which was designed in part by Apple CEO Steve Jobs and inspired by I. M. Pei's glass pyramid at the Louvre in Paris.

The most distinct similarity is the New York store's entrance - a glass cube, each side measuring just under 10 metres, with an Apple logo suspended in the middle.

Plans for the Sydney store also include a glass staircase, which will connect the three levels. The top level includes what appears to be a "Genius Bar", which is in all Apple stores and is where customerscould go to discuss technical issues with product experts.

The total cost for the Sydney construction project is estimated to be over $US15 million ($23.6 million), but that is just a drop in the ocean for Apple, which views its chic stores as huge money spinners.

In its latest financial results for the third quarter of fiscal 2007, Apple reported total worldwide retail store profits of $US184 million from revenues of $US915 million. Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer said then that store revenues had increased by 33 per cent compared to the same quarter of 2006.

Today, Apple sells its products to Australians through its online store and various third-party retailers, but there is no official, local shopfront.

Myer recently opened a handful of mini Apple shops inside some of its Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane stores, similar to what other department store chains have done overseas. But it is understood Myer's initiative is separate and will have little effect on plans for the Sydney store being built by Apple.

The planned road closures on George Street will occur on evenings between January 20 and February 20 from 9pm to 5am. Traffic will need to be diverted, the council documents show.

Apple has been notoriously tight-lipped about its plans for the store and declined to comment on this story, other than to confirm a Sydney store was in the works.

By the end of this year Apple will have around 200 official retail stores, most of which are located in the United States, although there are a handful located in Britain, Canada and Japan.

Earlier this year, there were rumours Apple was planning another official Australian store at South Yarra in Melbourne, but Apple has not confirmed this and construction has yet to begin at the rumoured site.