Apple to keep century-old historic barn on Campus 2 grounds
In keeping with late Apple cofounder Steve Jobs' Campus 2 land reclamation plan, a nearly 100-year-old barn will be saved from demolition to stand surrounded by trees at one corner of the huge lot.
Historic Glendenning Barn as seen in a dedication ceremony in March 2004. | Source: Cupertino Historical Society
With its ambitious Campus 2 facility, Apple is putting an emphasis on futuristic design, as evidenced by a circular glass-clad "spaceship" headquarters building, underground mega-theater and other supporting structures. But Jobs, who had more than a helping hand in the project, dreamed of returning 80 percent of the concrete sprawl laid down by former owner Hewlett-Packard to green space.
As part of the land reclamation initiative, Apple has decided to keep the historic Glendenning Barn intact as part of the build, reports the San Jose Mercury News.
"When they're finished, the land will look much more like it did 50 or 100 years ago than it looked five years ago," said former Cupertino Mayor Orrin Mahoney. "The barn fits into that."
Named after the Glendenning family, whose patriarch Robert Glendenning first settled the 160-acre plot in Santa Clara Valley 1850, the barn dates back to 1916 and bore witness to Silicon Valley's boom. The building stood as the lot transformed from an orchard into the foundation for modern business buildings owned by Varian Associates, then HP, and now Apple.
According to the Cupertino Historical Society, Apple carefully dismantled the barn and numbered its many pieces for reconstruction after Campus 2's modern facilities are complete. Apple also stored redwood salvaged from a nearby grove to replace boards that may potentially be damaged during the reconstruction process.
Glendenning barn will be relocated to a spot near Apple's new $74 million fitness center at the site's northwest corner. In its new role at Apple, old wood structure will serve as a storage facility for sports equipment, landscaping supplies and other maintenance materials needed to tend the grounds.
The $5 billion Campus 2 project was first pitched by Jobs to the Cupertino City Council in 2011. CEO Tim Cook expects to move into the enormous main structure by 2016.
Historic Glendenning Barn as seen in a dedication ceremony in March 2004. | Source: Cupertino Historical Society
With its ambitious Campus 2 facility, Apple is putting an emphasis on futuristic design, as evidenced by a circular glass-clad "spaceship" headquarters building, underground mega-theater and other supporting structures. But Jobs, who had more than a helping hand in the project, dreamed of returning 80 percent of the concrete sprawl laid down by former owner Hewlett-Packard to green space.
As part of the land reclamation initiative, Apple has decided to keep the historic Glendenning Barn intact as part of the build, reports the San Jose Mercury News.
"When they're finished, the land will look much more like it did 50 or 100 years ago than it looked five years ago," said former Cupertino Mayor Orrin Mahoney. "The barn fits into that."
Named after the Glendenning family, whose patriarch Robert Glendenning first settled the 160-acre plot in Santa Clara Valley 1850, the barn dates back to 1916 and bore witness to Silicon Valley's boom. The building stood as the lot transformed from an orchard into the foundation for modern business buildings owned by Varian Associates, then HP, and now Apple.
According to the Cupertino Historical Society, Apple carefully dismantled the barn and numbered its many pieces for reconstruction after Campus 2's modern facilities are complete. Apple also stored redwood salvaged from a nearby grove to replace boards that may potentially be damaged during the reconstruction process.
Glendenning barn will be relocated to a spot near Apple's new $74 million fitness center at the site's northwest corner. In its new role at Apple, old wood structure will serve as a storage facility for sports equipment, landscaping supplies and other maintenance materials needed to tend the grounds.
The $5 billion Campus 2 project was first pitched by Jobs to the Cupertino City Council in 2011. CEO Tim Cook expects to move into the enormous main structure by 2016.
Comments
To most of Europe that picture just looks like a relatively new shed.
It's hilarious to see Americans get misty eyed at these 'historical monuments'.
To most of Europe that picture just looks like a relatively new shed.
Well... the way I read it, this is an article about something inside the U.S., and not in Europe. So what's "historic" for the U.S. is still valid. I lived in Germany for five years, and while I do agree that 100 years is a speck of time compared to Europe, I do appreciate that some things we consider "old" is preserved. That barn will be a nice contrast to the futuristic Apple headquarters when it's finished.
You're comment does come across as snobbish. What Europeans think of us Americans preserving our "old" stuff is something I couldn't give one rat's a$$ about.
The past is the future.
I guess this was Jobs's hobby shed where he went for quiet time away from the wife, and where he invented the Apple TV, and where Ive invented Apple's newest hobby, the Apple Watch.
Nice of you two but from an anthropologist's viewpoint European architecture is not long time ago.
Nice of me but from a geologist's viewpoint early man's cave art is not long time ago.
...
It's hilarious to see Americans get misty eyed at these 'historical monuments'.
To most of Europe that picture just looks like a relatively new shed.
And your technology is just as dated.
Nokia?
Siemens?
LOL.
My posts on this forum are not that old, but are they historical?
I would hope so.
This is interesting to learn since Apple tends to focus on the future. They have no corporate museum because they don't dwell on past achievements. I wonder how the discussion went in the meeting where this barn was deigned worth preserving?
Come on, no need to turn this into an Europe vs America debate.
That said, Siemens is still huge, especially for nuclear power production.
And your technology is just as dated.
Nokia?
Siemens?
LOL.
ARM is a leader in microprocessor Intellectual Property based in Cambridge, England. Most, including Apple, would not say their latest chips are dated.
I see the two condescending Europeans circle jerked one another with a thumb's up.
The value of the Barn or any barn is for those who have direct history with it. I doubt you have history with Stonehenge, right?
Steve has direct history with that Barn as a kid and those former orchards. Young nations will always hear the condescension from the old nations. Of course, the young nation must remind the old that they shot their wad long ago and like all old rotting fruit need assisted living from the young nation.
My posts on this forum are not that old, but are they historical?
I would hope so.
Nope. Hysterical maybe.
It's funny to read the irrelevant comments from a few condescending neanderthals from the old continent who venture into this thread with their misguided and ridiculous perspective on things. That's all that they got left, reminiscing about the past and the good old days, because the future is looking mighty bleak for that old continent, especially since the mass migrations of recent years.
Meanwhile, over here, the future's so bright, I gotta wear damn shades.
Hysterical and historical would do me fine.
The enthusiasm of America is fun to see.
Why save this characterless barn yet allow Jobs to destroy the much more architecturally interesting Spanish Colonial revival Jackling House on his property a few years ago ?
Americans sanctify the pointless and destroy the magnificent. The old Penn Station was destroyed, as would Grand Central have been had it not been for Jackie Kennedy at al.
It's pretty cool that something made of wood has lasted 100 years.