The Office Block: Apple Style
In June of this year, Steve Jobs stood infront of Cupertino’s council, to announce plans for an all new Campus, situated on land Apple had acquired from HP over a lengthy period of time. He was in a fraile state, and this would be his last ever public appearance, but what he showed off, was staggering. Many would say Steve was more suited to demonstrating a handheld gadget, but this time, we saw a glimpse of one of the most stunning office blocks ever to land on earth. And when I say, ‘land on earth’, I’m almost speaking literally. It looks like the mothership has landed.
I felt it necessary to share a few photo’s, and artists renditions, of what the 2,800,000 square feet, 13,000 employee structure will look like, upon completion in 2015. The designers were adament in keeping the building as environmentally friendly, not just by reversing the ratio from 80:20 building to landscaping, to 20:80, but by coating the roof in one of the largest solar generators in the world, it was confirmed this week. This will generate up to 5MW of electricity, enough to power one million Apple TV’s.
The updated renderings are magnificent, and shows how this building puts the environment, architecture and technology in a perfect harmony, in a way never seen before. Whilst many campus’ around the world are based in multiple buildings, Apple wanted just one.
New Rendering of Apple Campus 2. Source: Cupertino City Council via Macrumors
Restaurant at Apple Campus 2. Source: Cupertino City Council via Cult of Mac
The building will house a 1,000 seat auditorium, and 300,000 square feet of research facilities, on top of a monstrous restaurant, which can cater for the whole campus. Apple’s current campus on Infinite Loop, will remain in place, and operational for the foreseeable future, however its fate is questionable. Some residents of Cupertino did express concern over the impact of both traffic, and the environment around the campus at a council meeting, but many of these were minor, as residents seemed reasonably compliant with the technology giant.
Apple’s retail efforts span the globe with almost unbeatable designs, notably the recently redesigned 24 hour New York 5th Avenue ‘cube’ store, and the Grand Central Station Store, which overtakes London’s Covent Garden as the biggest in the world. This building builds upon the successes of this programme.
Take a look at the stunning renderings below, and share your opinions in the comments.
Apple Campus 2 will have 80% landscaping. Source: Cupertino City Council via Croma Design
Curved glass is built from experience rom Apple's retail efforts. Source: Cupertino City Council via Croma Design
Steve Jobs described the campus in his unique style, better than anyone could:
It’s a pretty amazing building. It’s a little like a spaceship landed. It’s got this gorgeous courtyard in the middle… It’s a circle. It’s curved all the way around. If you build things, this is not the cheapest way to build something. There is not a straight piece of glass in this building. It’s all curved. We’ve used our experience making retail buildings all over the world now, and we know how to make the biggest pieces of glass in the world for architectural use. And, we want to make the glass specifically for this building here. We can make it curve all the way around the building… It’s pretty cool.
After readig S Jobs' bio I am amazed at his genius but his cruelty. His legacy will not be in technology but in his efforts to build something bigger and better than anyone else. My biggest beef with S.J is his total lack of philanthropy. Unlike Bill Gates who has spent millions to eradicate various diseases, and educate people especially in Africa. But what is S.J's legacy. It is to materialism; a complete refutation of his so-called Buddhiism. His new builfing like his new yacht is a monument to his excess.
Where's the parking lot for those 13,000 employees in the photos? There's no real public transportation infrastructure in place in that part of Cupertino.
I believe it is underground. Much of these concerns were discussed at a public council meeting.
Glad to finally hear it's going to be coated in solar panels. 1 million Apple TVs - that's 83 per campus employee.
83! Wow! Apple seem to really be buying into the idea of solar power. They recently began planning a solar farm for a relatively new iCloud Data Centre. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/nov/23...
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