Apple Campus 2

Apple Campus 2
General information
Status Under construction
Architectural style Neo-futurism
Address 19111 Pruneridge Avenue
Cupertino, CA 95014
Town or city Cupertino, California
Country United States
Coordinates 37°20′8″N 122°0′33″W / 37.33556°N 122.00917°W / 37.33556; -122.00917
Groundbreaking Nov 2013
Completed Q4 2016[1]
Opening early 2017
Cost ≈ USD 5 billion (The land cost was estimated at $160 million) [2]
Owner Apple Inc.
Dimensions
Other dimensions Accommodating 13,000 staff[3]
Technical details
Floor count 4[3]
Floor area 2,800,000 square feet (260,000 m2)[3]
Grounds 176 acres (71 hectares)[3]
Design and construction
Architect Lord Norman Foster[4]
Architecture firm Foster and Partners[3]
Other information
Parking 14,200

Apple Campus 2 is an upcoming future headquarters of Apple Inc. in Cupertino, California. It is under construction and is expected to be completed by Q4 2016, and start occupying in early 2017.[5] On June 7, 2011, Apple's then-CEO Steve Jobs presented to Cupertino City Council details of the architectural design of the new buildings and their environs. It is in circular shape, resembling a spaceship that has just landed, because of the use of glass and the shape, on a site now totaling 176 acres (0.71 km2), is planned to house up to 13,000 employees in one central four-storied circular building of approximately 2,800,000 square feet (260,000 m2). Steve Jobs wanted the whole campus to look less like an office park and more like a nature refuge. Eighty percent of the site will be green space planted with fruit trees.

History

Apple Campus 2 aerial view, August 2016. Apple Campus 1 is visible near the top.

The building is a brainchild of late CEO, Steve Jobs, and designed by acclaimed architect, Lord Norman Foster. It all started when Steve Jobs called Norman Foster saying, "Norman, I need some help" and three weeks later they met in Cupertino. He asked Foster to consider him as team member rather than a client. He took the architect to the cathedral-like building on the Pixar campus in Emeryville, which Jobs designed himself with the goal of keeping everyone and everything under one roof. Steve Jobs spent a large part of two years on the project before his death in 2011.

In April 2006, Steve Jobs announced to the city council of Cupertino that Apple had acquired nine contiguous properties to build a second campus, the Apple Campus 2.[6]

Apple has had a presence in Cupertino since 1977, which is why the company decided to build in the area rather than move to a cheaper, distant location. Purchases of the needed properties were made through the company Hines Interests,[7][8] which in at least some cases did not disclose the fact that Apple was the ultimate buyer;[8] Philip Mahoney, a partner with a local commercial real estate brokerage, noted that this is common practice in attempts to arrange the purchase of contiguous land made up of multiple parcels with separate owners, in order to keep costs from skyrocketing and not reveal the company's plans to competitors.[8] Among the sellers of the properties were SummerHill Homes (a plot of 8 acres (32,000 m2)) and Hewlett-Packard (three buildings of their campus in Cupertino), among others.[8]

Steve Jobs was quoted as saying: "It's got a gorgeous courtyard in the middle, and a lot more. It's a circle, so it's curved all the way round. This is not the cheapest way to build something. Every pane of glass in the main building will be curved. We have a shot, at building the best office building in the world. I really do think that architecture students will come here to see it." This proved to be Jobs' last public appearance before his death in October 2011.

Design

Panorama of spaceship campus under construction, July 2016

The ring-shaped office, a perfect circle, was not originally planned as such but evolved based on the requirement. The inner rim and outer rim on each floor will be left open as walkways. There are 8 buildings in exact size, separated by 9 mini atria, all seamlessly integrated into one circular ringed building. The campus is one mile in circumference, with a diameter of 1512 feet. The one huge circular building will house all employees and is easy to navigate across or around the building, within half mile distance. It is four stories above the ground and three stories underground covering 20% and 80% of the campus will be landscaped. Apple created life-size mock-ups of all parts of building to iron out any design issues.

The inner part of the circular building will be a 30-acre park, with fruit trees, winding pathways, reminiscent of fruit orchards of California. A pond is also part of it.

The design hides the roads and parking spots underground, not visible at the ground level on the campus. The campus uses only glass for its walls and views of the inner courtyard or to the landscape facing the exterior of the building. The campus is designed with winding paths that go traverse the campus, with grassy, verdant surroundings, and create an ecologically rich oak savanna reminiscent of the early Santa Clara Valley, with plenty of open seating areas for employees to meet. Around 83,000 square feet of space is for meetings and breakout spaces in the building. Construction will cover only 13% of the land.

Steve Jobs wanted no seam, gap, or paintbrush stroke visible for a clean fit and finish. He was inspired by the main quad on Stanford University.

All interior wood to be used for furniture was to be harvested from a certain species of maple, and only the finer-quality “heartwood” at the center of the trees is being used. Apple is working with many construction companies in design, material supply in 19 countries.

It has many unique features with continuous floor-to-ceiling, curved glass, making it the largest piece of structural glass in the world built by a German company, Seele/Sedak, the same company that works on glass work for the Apple Stores. The concave glass used for the building is 36 and 46 feet wide at a length of 10 1/2 feet. The best glass today has 1/8 inch tolerance, that is 1/8 inch shorter or longer, the glass for the Apple's campus will have a tolerance of 1/32 inch.

The floor will be made of terrazzo, a composite precast stone, buffed to a sheen normally reserved for museums and high-end residences. A unique, breathing concrete slab, that serve dual purpose as floor and ceiling that are hollow on the inside, and act as the building's natural air conditioning, obviating the need to have HVAC system. A total of 4300 such slabs will be used for building. Some of the slabs are 60,000 pounds. Every wall, floor, and ceiling (same block) is to be polished to a supernatural smoothness before putting them in place.

The building core and shell was built by DPR/Skanska, while Rudolph & Sletten and Holder Construction teamed up to complete the interior fit-out.

Location

Apple Campus 2 under construction, January 2016

Campus 2 is located one mile east of the existing facility. Originally expected to break ground in 2013 and open in 2015, the project experienced delays and started in 2014, it is expected to be open in 2017 as announced in Apple's latest keynote.[9][10] The campus is also next to a contaminated site under Superfund legislation with a groundwater plume.[11]

The land cost was estimated at $160 million. The project cost initially was estimated at $500 million. However, in 2013 the total cost was estimated to be nearer to $5 billion.[12][13] Until April 2008, Apple had not sought the necessary permits to begin construction, so it was estimated that the project would not be ready in 2010 as originally proposed; however, the buildings on the site are being currently held by Apple for its operations. In November 2010 the San Jose Mercury News revealed[14] that Apple had bought an additional 98 acres (400,000 m2) no longer used by HP Inc., just north across Pruneridge Ave. This space used to be the HP campus in Cupertino before it was relocated to Palo Alto.

Facilities

Cafe

The campus will have seven cafes, and the largest three-level café is for 3,000 sitting people, it has light-colored stone lining and glass railing with no metal support. It is surrounded by extensive landscaping. The mezzanine space of 20,000 square feet can accommodate 600 people and 1,750 seats on terraces outside, with a capacity to serve 15,000 lunches a day, housed by specially designed 500 tables made of solid spesshart white oak, measuring 18 feet long and 4 feet wide.

The sports tables and benches resemble those in Apple Stores. The large doors of the main restaurant are 92 feet tall, the biggest in the world. The cafe extends to grassy landscape well beyond the glass walls and will be able to dine al fresco in an area Apple’s calling the glade.

Auditorium

An underground, 1000 seat auditorium for Apple product launches and press meets is also being built. A large cylinder shaped lobby with stairs down to the auditorium. The theater, as referred by Apple, will have 350 parking spots on North Tantau and a pedestrian path leading to the main campus located Northwest of the theater. This provide Apple more control over product releases and unveiling.

The unique and outstanding theater will be all cylindrical glass walls, column-free and roofed with carbon fiber. This helps in an unhindered, 360-degree view of the verdant campus. The carbon fiber roof, the strongest and lightest material known to man, will be entirely supported by the glass walls. The 80-ton carbon fiber roof, made of 44 identical panels was supplied by a Dubai-based company, Premier Composite Technologies. Each panel is 70 feet long and 11 feet wide and locks in the middle with the other panels.[15]

The restrooms and industrial facilities will be connected to each other and the rest of the campus via underground tunnels.

Wellness center

A 100,000 square foot wellness/fitness center is located in the northwest of the campus. It can serve up to 20,000 employees around Cupertino. Apart from gym equipment, the fitness center will feature other amenities like changing rooms, showers, laundry services, and rooms for group sessions.

R&D facility

Two large buildings 300,000 square feet (28,000 m2) on the southern edge of the campus are being built, isolated from prying eyes. The top floor will house the R&D department comprising industrial design and human interface teams headed by design chief, Jonathan Ive.

Transit center

Employees traveling to Apple by bus will board and depart from the subterranean bus station, which leads to the main campus via two white staircases. The bus fleet will increase by 20%.

Parking

Parking is built both underground and in two huge parking structures accommodating approximately 14,200 employees.[16] There will be 300 car charging stations onsite.

There will be 2,000 parking spaces in the subterranean parking garage. The parking will be managed by sensors and apps, which will manage the traffic and parking spaces.

Visitor Center

The visitor center is called the North Tantau Avenue Visitor Center. The two-story, 20,135 square feet (1,870.6 m2) visitor center which features a 2,386 square feet (221.7 m2) café and observation deck overlooking the entire campus.

There will be 1,000 bikes on the campus for employees to get around, with miles of cycling and jogging trails all over the 176 acre campus.

Landscaping

Currently, only 20% of the campus is green space; when Apple is done with construction, it will consist of 80% green space.[17] The big courtyard in the middle of the main building will be verdant with apricot, olive, and apple orchards and a herb garden near the cafe. The plants selected for the campus landscape are drought tolerant. Recycled water will be used to water the campus.

Apple hired a leading arborist, Dave Muffly, from Stanford University to cultivate California's natural environment around the campus. There will be 8,000 trees on the campus from 309 varieties of indigenous species.[18] The trees that will be planted are Oak savanna, Oak wood, and fruit trees including apricot, apple, plum, cherry and persimmon. An additional 15 acres are planned to be used for a native California grassland.[19] Of the 4,506 trees on former campus, 1,000 will be replanted on the new campus. Their arborist has been growing more than 4,600 trees in various nurseries for their eventual transplant to the campus. It will include both young and mature trees, and native and drought tolerant plants that will thrive in Santa Clara County with minimal water consumption.

The trees on the perimeter will be retained and more will be moved to the perimeter, to act as a natural fence.

On October 15, 2013, Cupertino City Council unanimously approved Apple's plans for the new campus after a six-hour debate.[20] Shortly thereafter, demolition work began to prepare the site for construction.[21]

Inner courtyard

The inner courtyard is 30 acres (12 ha), and covered in fruit trees with a pond.

Solar power

The site will be powered by 100% renewable energy, making it one of the most energy efficient buildings in the world. A dedicated generating plant as the primary source of electricity (powered by natural gas and other more environmentally sound means).[22] The solar panels that will be installed on the roof of the campus generating 16 megawatts of power, sufficient to power 75% during peak daytime. The other 4 megawatts will be based on bio-fuel based power using fuel cell servers by Bloom Energy,[23] that generate electricity. The air will flow freely between the inside and outside of the building, providing natural ventilation and obviating the need for HVAC systems.

References

  1. ↑ "Apple Campus 2 Construction Update". City of Cupertino. Cupertino, CA: City of Cupertino. June 2014. Retrieved 2014-06-17.
  2. ↑ - Apple Campus 2 cost 5 billion Projects: Foster and Partners
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Apple Campus 2: Project Description" (pdf). City of Cupertino. Cupertino, CA: Apple, Inc. Sep 2013. Retrieved 2014-06-17.
  4. ↑
  5. ↑ http://fortune.com/2016/05/31/apple-campus-2-drone-flyover/
  6. ↑ "News : Apple Campus 2 Project Update". Cupertino. Retrieved 2013-05-28.
  7. ↑ Sharon Simonson (April 21, 2006). "Apple teams with Texas firm on new Cupertino campus". San Jose Business Journal. Retrieved May 10, 2010.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Chandler, Michele (Apr 28, 2006). "How Apple found 50 acres in Cupertino and why they paid big bucks for it". San Jose Mercury-News. Archived from the original on June 28, 2006. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
  9. ↑ Fry, Stephen (May 26, 2015). "When Stephen Fry met Jony Ive the self-confessed tech geek talks to Apple's newly promoted chief design officer". telegraph.co.uk. The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 31 May 2015. Retrieved May 31, 2015.
  10. ↑ Peter Burrows (November 21, 2012). "Jobs's Spaceship-Like Apple Offices Completion Meets Delays". Bloomberg.com. Bloomberg. Retrieved February 27, 2013.
  11. ↑ Hugh Biggar (June 7, 2006). The Cupertino Courier.
  12. ↑ Burrows, Peter. "Inside Apple's Plans for Its Futuristic, $5 Billion Headquarters". Businessweek. Retrieved 2013-05-28.
  13. ↑ "Apple Campus 2 nearly $2 billion over budget and behind schedule, says Bloomberg". The Verge. Retrieved 2016-04-04.
  14. ↑ Apple makes big land purchase in Cupertino
  15. ↑ http://qz.com/699112/what-apple-is-building-wwdc/
  16. ↑ http://www.macworld.co.uk/feature/apple/apple-spaceship-campus-facts-pictures-video-info-video-3489704/
  17. ↑ "Steve Jobs TV Appearance at the Cupertino City Council (6/7/11)".
  18. ↑ http://venturebeat.com/2016/06/04/a-look-at-apples-insanely-ambitious-tree-planting-plans-for-its-new-spaceship-campus/
  19. ↑ http://www.cnga.org/page-1633090
  20. ↑ May, Patrick (15 October 2013). "Cupertino council clears huge Apple 'spaceship' campus for liftoff". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved 16 October 2013.
  21. ↑ Clover, Juli (2013-12-05). "Demolition at New Apple Campus 2 Well Underway". MacRumors.
  22. ↑ Steve Jobs Presents to Cupertino City Council
  23. ↑ http://appleinsider.com/articles/16/06/24/apples-campus-2-to-use-updated-bloom-energy-fuel-cells-first-deployed-at-nc-data-center

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