Exclusive February aerial tour of Apple Inc's Campus 2 shows 'Spaceship' Ring rising, theater progre
Apple's Campus 2 mega-project is showing major progress in its "Spaceship" Ring, where interlocking concrete slabs are building a foundation for a steel structure that is already beginning to reach upward by four stories. The first massive parking garage is nearly finished and existing buildings have been demolished to make room for a second stage R&D site.
Apple Campus 2 in February 2015, viewed from the south
In just over a month since we last examined the site's progress in late December, work on Apple Campus 2 has maintained its aggressive schedule. Concrete slabs cover the base floor of the Ring, which will apparently accommodate additional underground parking.
Apple Campus 2 Ring from the north
The Ring connects to a tunnel structure that will replace Pruneridge Avenue, which formerly crossed through the site. The new underground roadway will also route vehicles toward two above ground, four storey parking structures, the first of which is nearly complete apart from a top decking of solar panels--despite being just bare earth back in September and only beginning to rise in October.
In December, AppleInsider exclusively reported on the removal of an adjacent Ring prototype building we first detailed in October. Both structures are still depicted in Apple Maps' current Flyover models (below top), but they are now empty lots (below bottom, today).
The company continues to operate eight office groups on the east side of N Tantau Ave (which is the eastern boundary of the Campus 2 site), along with at least four other office blocks between E Homestead Road (the north boundary of Campus 2) and Stevens Creek Blvd, not including two other large office sites on Vallco Parkway, which is located south of the 280 freeway (the south boundary of Campus 2). All of these buildings are within Cupertino, just west of the boundary of the adjacent city of Santa Clara.
Campus 2 February 2015 Theater
The theater site will include a 120,000 sq ft "assembly space" with seating for 1,000, kitchen facilities and a large lobby area. In September, the theater excavation was a shallow pit (below), just south of Ridgeview Court 3, which is the last major building within the site that has not yet been demolished.
Apple's cofounder Steve Jobs unveiled the huge project in 2011, noting that the central 2.8-million-square-foot "Spaceship" structure would house at least 12,000 employees, surrounded by bucolic landscaping including orchards of fruit trees and other greenery, featuring open space and walking paths to reclaim most of the 150-acre plot previously covered by asphalt parking lots.
See previous coverage on AppleInsider of Apple Campus 2 and the current Infinite Loop headquarters, or our other articles on drones. Viewers interested in the DJI Phantom 2 Vision+ can read more about the device or pick one up here.
Note: Readers should be aware that Apple's Campus 2 site is extremely hazardous to photograph using an aerial drone, in part because the site is so large it is nearly impossible to fly over even one quarter of the site within constant visual or radio contact using a consumer drone, and in part because the site is partially within an FAA restricted zone because of the nearby San Jose International Airport. There is constant traffic of low flying aircraft over the site. We strongly encourage inexperienced aerial drone pilots not to attempt to fly in or around the site.
Apple Campus 2 in February 2015, viewed from the south
In just over a month since we last examined the site's progress in late December, work on Apple Campus 2 has maintained its aggressive schedule. Concrete slabs cover the base floor of the Ring, which will apparently accommodate additional underground parking.
Apple Campus 2 Ring from the north
The Ring connects to a tunnel structure that will replace Pruneridge Avenue, which formerly crossed through the site. The new underground roadway will also route vehicles toward two above ground, four storey parking structures, the first of which is nearly complete apart from a top decking of solar panels--despite being just bare earth back in September and only beginning to rise in October.
Making room for new R&D buildings along N Tantau Avenue
Apple began demolishing the former Hewlett Packard Pruneridge Campus buildings in 2013, but within just the last month it has also removed Ridgeview Court 1, a two-building complex Apple had been using as office space, located south of the HP site (below Pruneridge) on land Apple had previously acquired before the HP site became available.In December, AppleInsider exclusively reported on the removal of an adjacent Ring prototype building we first detailed in October. Both structures are still depicted in Apple Maps' current Flyover models (below top), but they are now empty lots (below bottom, today).
The company continues to operate eight office groups on the east side of N Tantau Ave (which is the eastern boundary of the Campus 2 site), along with at least four other office blocks between E Homestead Road (the north boundary of Campus 2) and Stevens Creek Blvd, not including two other large office sites on Vallco Parkway, which is located south of the 280 freeway (the south boundary of Campus 2). All of these buildings are within Cupertino, just west of the boundary of the adjacent city of Santa Clara.
Auditorium complex taking shape
Just north of newly demolished Ridgeview Court 1 site, Apple's underground theater is now taking form, with a circular structure being built within the north section of the large excavated hole. Construction permits indicate that the auditorium complex will cost around $161 million to complete.Campus 2 February 2015 Theater
The theater site will include a 120,000 sq ft "assembly space" with seating for 1,000, kitchen facilities and a large lobby area. In September, the theater excavation was a shallow pit (below), just south of Ridgeview Court 3, which is the last major building within the site that has not yet been demolished.
Expected occupation by the end of next year
Granted final approval just over one year ago, Apple's Campus 2 project is rapidly moving toward its occupancy goal of 2016.Apple's cofounder Steve Jobs unveiled the huge project in 2011, noting that the central 2.8-million-square-foot "Spaceship" structure would house at least 12,000 employees, surrounded by bucolic landscaping including orchards of fruit trees and other greenery, featuring open space and walking paths to reclaim most of the 150-acre plot previously covered by asphalt parking lots.
See previous coverage on AppleInsider of Apple Campus 2 and the current Infinite Loop headquarters, or our other articles on drones. Viewers interested in the DJI Phantom 2 Vision+ can read more about the device or pick one up here.
Note: Readers should be aware that Apple's Campus 2 site is extremely hazardous to photograph using an aerial drone, in part because the site is so large it is nearly impossible to fly over even one quarter of the site within constant visual or radio contact using a consumer drone, and in part because the site is partially within an FAA restricted zone because of the nearby San Jose International Airport. There is constant traffic of low flying aircraft over the site. We strongly encourage inexperienced aerial drone pilots not to attempt to fly in or around the site.
Comments
http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2015/01/drone-maker-to-add-no-fly-firmware-to-prevent-future-white-house-buzzing/
Good luck with that. I’ll write my own firmware if I have to (or buy an older drone).
The treasonous hypocrites can sit and spin.
DJI's firmware already enforces No Fly zones around airports and other sensitive areas, including flight limited buffer zones around them.
The Ars story is just about adding all of Washington DC to the no fly zone list. It's not impossible to override this, and drone pilots who build their own (or buy a different model) can and do fly in restricted zones. This is obviously dangerous.
It's not about preventing you from flying in restricted airspace. It's about liability. If you hack your drone and caught flying it in restricted area then the "I didn't know" excuse is out the window.
Enjoying the updates, thanks AI.
It's located in California with its bottom-of-the-nation business climate. When the state runs out of other businesses to tax, it'll turn to the only one left with money, the state's goose-that-lays-the-golden-egg. That's its high-tech industry, including Apple.
With billions investing in corporate real estate and with many thousands of employees angry that their once-inflated home values are plummeting, Apple will be in deep trouble. Moving would mean that both it and its employees take an enormous financial hit. Staying will mean that most of Apple's profit goes to pay taxes.
The sad thing is those future woes were easily anticipated. Non-profit organizations with a national or international reach left California in the 1980s. They simply couldn't pay employees enough to buy a home. Facing the same problem, for-profit business began to leave in the 1990s. Lose businesses and the tax base grows narrower.
More taxes on fewer businesses mean more business leaving, resulting in still more taxes on still fewer businesses. It's a death spiral, or to be more accurate it's a death spiral that in the U.S. afflicts heavily blue (Democratic) states and cities.
Detroit is the poster child of that blue death spiral. The city has elected nothing but liberal Democrats since the early 1960s and what is the result? A once rich city that spent heavily on public works and bowed down to every demand of its public unions (like today's California) is now depopulated, deeply in debt, and badly run. Entire neighborhoods have been abandoned. Homes can be had for simply taking up the taxes. The response to a 911 can take a hour or more.
Apple must be in need of art to decorate the walls of this new building. I suggest they include pictures such as these:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/worldnews/10191002/Detroit-in-pictures-the-urban-decay-of-Motor-City-as-it-files-for-bankruptcy.html
That'll help prepare Apple employees for the dismal future they face.
Blue / Red blah blah blah ... Please enough of your politically driven psycho babble. I'll leave it to others to no doubt point out the flaws in your overly simplistic analysis of the 'State' of the economy.
By the way, you seem to imply home prices are a function unto to themselves. Surely it is a matter of supply and demand. If silicon valley has high demand they prices will reflect that, if not they wont.
EDIT: removed his drivel from quote
Is there going to be some futuristic monorail type thing from the car parking area to the campus building? I also wonder if the parking areas will all have charging stations for Teslas ... Oh wait probably not, all those wanting Teslas are already left Apple to work there.
Apple has stated that there will be plenty of charging stations in the parking garage, that there are many employees who own Tesla or other electric vehicles.
No monorail, given Apple's health push, I assume everyone is expected to walk...and track their steps on their Apple Watch.
Yep, the my mentioning charging stations was simply a lead in to my timely Tesla 'head hunting' related joke only ...
Right ... walking is far healthier and you are right great potential for ?Watch use
Can you see all this from your window sill?
It's a beautiful building with only one major flaw.
That'll help prepare Apple employees for the dismal future they face.
What made you think anyone cared about your political views regarding California, state government or anything. This is a tech website focusing primarily on Apple. If you can't help spewing political BS, please move on to a political website. You will not be missed.
It's a beautiful building with only one major flaw.
It's located in California with its bottom-of-the-nation business climate. When the state runs out of other businesses to tax, it'll turn to the only one left with money, the state's goose-that-lays-the-golden-egg. That's its high-tech industry, including Apple.
With billions investing in corporate real estate and with many thousands of employees angry that their once-inflated home values are plummeting, Apple will be in deep trouble. Moving would mean that both it and its employees take an enormous financial hit. Staying will mean that most of Apple's profit goes to pay taxes.
The sad thing is those future woes were easily anticipated. Non-profit organizations with a national or international reach left California in the 1980s. They simply couldn't pay employees enough to buy a home. Facing the same problem, for-profit business began to leave in the 1990s. Lose businesses and the tax base grows narrower.
More taxes on fewer businesses mean more business leaving, resulting in still more taxes on still fewer businesses. It's a death spiral, or to be more accurate it's a death spiral that in the U.S. afflicts heavily blue (Democratic) states and cities.
Detroit is the poster child of that blue death spiral. The city has elected nothing but liberal Democrats since the early 1960s and what is the result? A once rich city that spent heavily on public works and bowed down to every demand of its public unions (like today's California) is now depopulated, deeply in debt, and badly run. Entire neighborhoods have been abandoned. Homes can be had for simply taking up the taxes. The response to a 911 can take a hour or more.
Apple must be in need of art to decorate the walls of this new building. I suggest they include pictures such as these:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/worldnews/10191002/Detroit-in-pictures-the-urban-decay-of-Motor-City-as-it-files-for-bankruptcy.html
That'll help prepare Apple employees for the dismal future they face.
What a sad and dreary existence you must lead.
If you're going to be at work all day I'd think that electric car charging stations (not just Teslas) is a good thing to have. I would be surprised if that wasn't taken into consideration.
Is that a serious post? :???:
Now, as a reward for watching the video I am getting DJI ads on every page I visit... Further turning me off.
All kinds of shots are done with drones these days instead of maybe a Helicopter!!! Of course the tech used is a lot more expensive, but you get what you pay for. Quality can be smooth and look fantastic, enough to be used in major movies.