New in OS X: Get MacRumors Push Notifications on your Mac

Resubscribe Now Close

Cupertino.org Posts More Details about Apple's New 'Spaceship' Campus

Friday August 12, 2011 8:53 pm PDT by Arnold Kim

The City of Cupertino posted more details about Apple's "spaceship" campus that was first revealed in June. The project includes the following:

• An Office, Research and Development Building comprising approximately 2.8 million square feet;
• A 1,000 seat Corporate Auditorium;
• A Corporate Fitness Center;
• Research Facilities comprising approximately 300,000 square feet;
• A Central Plant; and
• Associated Parking.

The new posting also includes Apple's proposal documents (in PDF) that contain the Introduction, Site Plan & Landscaping, Floor Plans and Renderings.



Click for larger

The overview was revealed back in June, but the availability of the PDFs offer a closer look at what Apple is proposing and higher quality renders of Apple's expected new campus. As Steve Jobs described it back in June:
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.
The City of Cupertino later revealed they were certain to approve Apple's proposal, and that the structure is expected to be completed in 2015.


Tag: Apple Park
[ 198 comments ]


Top Rated Comments

(View all)

Avatar
japanime
102 months ago

First of all the rooms inside don't have to be totally round, they can have flat walls and a rounded window. As for the weather, it rains very little in cupertino, so i doubt this is much of a concern. It's SoCal. Won't kill people to take a walk around the building a couple of time a year.


Cupertino isn't in Southern California. It's in Northern California, which gets a bit more rainfall than SoCal. Cupertino averages 18 inches of rain annually.
Rating: 8 Votes
Avatar
go4theko
102 months ago
they should make the perimeter in the shape of an apple. Now that would be sick
Rating: 8 Votes
Avatar
smileyborg
102 months ago

they should make the perimeter in the shape of an apple. Now that would be sick


Except for the team that gets stuck in the leaf...
Rating: 8 Votes
Avatar
likemyorbs
102 months ago
TBH, i think they need to work with the city to have the address of this building changed to 1 Infinite Loop, because obviously this is the real infinite loop. The address of the old headquarters should be changed to something else.
Rating: 8 Votes
Avatar
JohnnyLemonhead
102 months ago

Where do they manufacture glass?


At the glass factory.
(sorry I couldn't resist)
Rating: 7 Votes
Avatar
likemyorbs
102 months ago


2. Am I the only one who thinks building this in California, an increasingly terrible state for taxes (and a lot of other business related things) is not the best idea? I guess this generation of Tech czars are just too liberal and have so much money that they can afford to cost themselves (and the company) money because they want to stay in beautiful Northern California where all the rest of the cool liberal visionaries live. Maybe 30 years from now when more pragmatic people are running Google, eBay, Apple and Oracle they will think about locating the business headquarters in Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Florida etc, etc, etc. I guess now they're just making too much money to care about a few billion every year needlessly lost to the welfare state of California.


Suck it up bro. Maybe they don't want to be surrounded by dumb rednecks who do whatever fox news tells them to. Btw way to turn the thread political. Designed by Apple in Kentucky Y'all...doesn't quite have a ring to it.

And PS...
Apple IS a liberal corporation, always has been and always will be. And their roots are in Cupertino because that's where steve jobs grew up. He went to Cupertino Middle School for god's sake.
Rating: 7 Votes
Avatar
Michael Scrip
102 months ago



The problem with round buildings is you can't simply put a rectangular shaped object flat against the wall, thus wasting a lot of space.

While it sure does look wonderful I would say it is very much form over function.


You realize how big this building is... right?

The bigger the diameter... the less curved it will be. Besides... the interior width of the building is 180' across.

You probably won't even see the curve if you're looking directly at the outer wall from the inside.
Rating: 6 Votes
Avatar
TMar
102 months ago

This could easily be the next wonder of the world. I would love to see this building in person!

I'm going to feel bad for 1 Infinite Loop, though. Poor baby..it's going to be overshadowed by the new HQ.


It's a circle, they've been around a few years...:confused:
Rating: 6 Votes
Avatar
Thex1138
102 months ago
Will Steve hide 5 golden tickets hidden inside iPhone wrappers for a tour of the mother ship?
:rolleyes:
Rating: 6 Votes
Avatar
warschauer
101 months ago

1. Am I the only one who thinks this structure smacks of the Pentagon, both in looks and in philosophy? I know this is round and the Pentagon is, well, a pentagon, but the big building with a giant hollow center is very Pentagon-ish. Plus they look like they will be roughly the same size.
2. Am I the only one who thinks building this in California, an increasingly terrible state for taxes (and a lot of other business related things) is not the best idea? I guess this generation of Tech czars are just too liberal and have so much money that they can afford to cost themselves (and the company) money because they want to stay in beautiful Northern California where all the rest of the cool liberal visionaries live. Maybe 30 years from now when more pragmatic people are running Google, eBay, Apple and Oracle they will think about locating the business headquarters in Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Florida etc, etc, etc. I guess now they're just making too much money to care about a few billion every year needlessly lost to the welfare state of California.


Yes, because we all know how easy it will be to attract the best talent in the world to work in Kentucky.

----------

I love to be one of the chefs there in the cafeteria feeling all those Apple employees. That would just be one of the most awesome jobs ever. I'm make sure they all ate the best food ever.


That's one of the best Freudian slips in Macrumors history!
Rating: 6 Votes

[ Read All Comments ]