Last week, Apple briefly surpassed Exxon Mobil to become the world’s most valuable company. Although it may have been for a temporary amount of time, no one can question how far Steve Jobs’ tech company has come. With such tremendous growth, Apple is planning to upgrade its digs once again.
Architecture firm Foster + Partners designed the hoop-shaped office building, which will be located a few blocks away from Apple’s existing headquarters. The round shape has been cited as an important part of the campus’ security (better perimeter control) and is believed to improve internal circulations. The city of Cupertino has revealed that they are very likely to approve the project, so it seems everything is on route for an opening in 2015.
The 2.8 million sq ft campus will accommodate up to 13,000 employees and will provide office, research and development facilities, as well as a company fitness center, a cafe and a 1000-seat auditorium. A circular park for staff is proposed for the center of the building. Two further buildings will provide additional research facilities, while an onsite power plant will provide the majority of electricity for the campus.
It’s a pretty amazing building,” says Apple CEO Steve Jobs. “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.”
Foster + Partners website
Apple website
via [Designboom], [Archdaily], [Dezeen]