Apple Park

Apple Park is the corporate headquarters of Apple Inc., located at 1 Apple Park Way in Cupertino, California, United States. Its circular design and extreme scale have earned a media nickname of 'the spaceship’. Located on a suburban site totaling 175 acres (71 hectares), it houses more than 12,000 employees in one central four-storied circular building of approximately 2,800,000 square feet (260,000 square meters). Apple Park is considered to be one of the most energy-efficient buildings in the world.

Design and Development

Apple Park was designed by Norman Foster, taking over five years to complete and costing roughly $5 billion. The idea for a new headquarters was conceived by Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple Inc. The project was announced on June 7, 2011, at the Cupertino City Council meeting. Jobs wanted the campus to look less like an office park and more like a nature refuge. He took inspiration from the Stanford University campus' open space and the landscape of his childhood in the Santa Clara Valley.

Architecture

The main building's scale and circular groundscraper design are the key features of Apple Park. The building is clad entirely in the world’s largest panels of curved glass. The design is intended to blur the boundary between the building and the landscape designed by British firm Foster + Partners. The inner part of the circular building, or "the ring," is a park featuring a pond, fruit trees, and a central courtyard. The ring also includes workspaces and social areas.

Facilities

Apple Park includes a visitors center with an Apple Store and a public cafe, a 100,000-square-foot fitness center for Apple employees, secure research and development facilities, and the Steve Jobs Theater. The theater is a 1,000-seat auditorium located on a hill, one of the highest points within Apple Park, which was named in honor of Steve Jobs, who died in 2011.

Sustainability

Apple Park is one of the most energy-efficient buildings in the world. It is powered by 100% renewable energy, including a 17-megawatt onsite rooftop solar installation. The building uses natural ventilation that works instead of air conditioning for 70% of the year, and it has one of the largest on-site solar energy installations in the world.

See Also

• Apple Inc.
• Cupertino, California
• Norman Foster
• Steve Jobs
• Stanford University

Apple Park Resources
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