Apple's Steve Jobs Theater boasts no support pillars, power routed through spacers between...

AppleInsider

Accounts from the release event from Apple Park not only wax poetic about the Steve Jobs Theater, but about the main headquarters as well.

Daring Fireball founder John Gruber spoke on the Apple Headquarters in a post on Wednesday, detailing his thoughts on the Apple Park main building. Viewing the headquarters from the visitor's center and Steve Jobs Theater concourse, Gruber described the vista as "simply spectacular."

"It looks more like an idealized CGI rendering of how the main building is supposed to look, rather than a photograph showing how it really looks," wrote Gruber. "The sight lines have been designed exquisitely -- along the path to the theater and from its patio, all you see is nature, and then, the main building."

A post shared by John Gruber (@gruber) on Sep 12, 2017 at 9:16am PDT

The roof of the Steve Jobs Theater itself is supported only by the glass panes of the windows. Power and other wired services are supplied in the very narrow gaps between the massive panes produced by sedak.

The vast glass panels surrounding the exterior "spaceship" ring are 46 feet tall and more than 10 feet wide. The interior panels facing the courtyard are about 36 feet tall. Both sets of panels are precisely curved to form the building's cylindrical glass curtain.

The sheets are laminate, consisting of the custom-formed glass, and polyvinyl butyral (PVB), SentryGlas, or ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) for shatter protection.

The Steve Jobs Theater building uses similar panels, albeit not so large. In total, the campus uses 1,600 panes of white canopy glass, 900 vertical glass panes, 510 panes of upper window glass and 126 glass skylights.

wonkothesane

From what I see and read one of the most beautiful Apple products ever made. 

StrangeDays

Gruber was referring to the theater structure:

“I arrived around 8:30 for the 10:00 event, and the theater’s pavilion-style lobby and surrounding outdoor patio were already jam-packed. It truly is a beautiful structure. But it wasn’t until later in the day, as I was leaving after a few product briefings, that I got to see what it looked like empty. It’s stunning. The roof is supported only by the glass walls. There are no support columns. It seems impossible, and the effect is amazing. (They run electricity to the roof through the narrow spacers between the window panes.)”

I’m fairly sure he didn’t imply the main structure was this way. This was the photo linked in the above. The roof is carbon fiber as I recall which is a lighter material. The main HQ roof & solar panels are too heavy to be supported only by the windows.

Soli

Shouldn't that read "Steve Jobs Theater boasts no support pillars, power routed through spacers between window panes" You can clearly see support pillar supports in their HW building.

SpamSandwich

wonkothesane said:

From what I see and read one of the most beautiful Apple products ever made. 

Just wait until you see the car.

mac_128

Interesting, I'd love to see some up close photos of those spacers, and how they camouflaged the wiring. In concept it sounds cool, but in practice, I can see it not being so aesthetic.

Funny how I didn't even think about it as I marveled at it during the beginning of the event video feed. 

ireland

StrangeDays said:

Gruber was referring to the theater structure:

“I arrived around 8:30 for the 10:00 event, and the theater’s pavilion-style lobby and surrounding outdoor patio were already jam-packed. It truly is a beautiful structure. But it wasn’t until later in the day, as I was leaving after a few product briefings, that I got to see what it looked like empty. It’s stunning. The roof is supported only by the glass walls. There are no support columns. It seems impossible, and the effect is amazing. (They run electricity to the roof through the narrow spacers between the window panes.)”

I’m fairly sure he didn’t imply the main structure was this way. This was the photo linked in the above. The roof is carbon fiber as I recall which is a lighter material. The main HQ roof & solar panels are too heavy to be supported only by the windows.

No shit. Considering a regular home weighs 600+ tonnes. This roof here weighs 70 tonnes.

securtis

wonder how this will do in an earthquake? hope they thought about it

StrangeDays

mac_128 said:

Interesting, I'd love to see some up close photos of those spacers, and how they camouflaged the wiring. In concept it sounds cool, but in practice, I can see it not being so aesthetic.

It looks like it has a clean aesthetic in the empty theater lobby photo above.

Soli

securtis said:

wonder how this will do in an earthquake? hope they thought about it

I doubt it¡ Everyone in California thinks earthquakes are a hoax and they don't have one regulation in the entire state that requires structures be resilient to massive earthquakes¡

lostkiwi

Soli said:

securtis said:

wonder how this will do in an earthquake? hope they thought about it

I doubt it¡ Everyone in California thinks earthquakes are a hoax and they don't have one regulation in the entire state that requires structures be resilient to a massive earthquakes¡

Of course they would have complied with all of the regs. I must admit though when I saw it on the video I first thought 'wow, spectacular', second thought was 'I wonder what it would be like in a big SF earthquake'. 

I hate earthquakes. 

macky the macky

securtis said:

wonder how this will do in an earthquake? hope they thought about it

The roof will dance around on top the windows like a crazy break-dancer on drugs...

escan

securtis said:

wonder how this will do in an earthquake? hope they thought about it

All buildings are earthquake proof. All the buildings, even the area surrounding the theater are built on moving elements. http://www.iclarified.com/44545/apple-campus-2-will-be-the-largest-baseisolated-building-in-the-world

radster360

I still think that the glass wall of the Steve Jobs Theater should be like a giant circular door that opens (raise up) and close (raise down) and roof collapsing to ground. 

sergioz

securtis said:

wonder how this will do in an earthquake? hope they thought about it

Apple would have to call back to their brothers at Sedak

robjn

The first version of this article applied Gruber's comments about the theater structure to the main building.

I kindly left a comment saying that I the way I read it Gruber was referring to the theater. Now the article is re-written and my comment has been removed. Why remove my comment? Why not just thank me?

gmgravytrain

"People who live in glass houses..." wouldn't mind living in Steve Jobs Theater.

bobringer

Soli said:

securtis said:

wonder how this will do in an earthquake? hope they thought about it

I doubt it¡ Everyone in California thinks earthquakes are a hoax and they don't have one regulation in the entire state that requires structures be resilient to massive earthquakes¡

I've seen a lot of #FakeNews in my day, but this about as fake as fake news gets.

<< Since the 1930s, California has gradually boosted its building standards. Each severe quake has prompted new rules, with the most recent major overhaul coming after the 1994 quake in the Northridge section of Los Angeles that killed 72 people. >>


http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/west/2008/08/01/92428.htm

MacPro

bobringer said:

Soli said:

securtis said:

wonder how this will do in an earthquake? hope they thought about it

I doubt it¡ Everyone in California thinks earthquakes are a hoax and they don't have one regulation in the entire state that requires structures be resilient to massive earthquakes¡

I've seen a lot of #FakeNews in my day, but this about as fake as fake news gets.

<< Since the 1930s, California has gradually boosted its building standards. Each severe quake has prompted new rules, with the most recent major overhaul coming after the 1994 quake in the Northridge section of Los Angeles that killed 72 people. >>


http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/west/2008/08/01/92428.htm

Are you aware what '¡' means?

Soli

MacPro said:

bobringer said:

Soli said:

securtis said:

wonder how this will do in an earthquake? hope they thought about it

I doubt it¡ Everyone in California thinks earthquakes are a hoax and they don't have one regulation in the entire state that requires structures be resilient to massive earthquakes¡

I've seen a lot of #FakeNews in my day, but this about as fake as fake news gets.

<< Since the 1930s, California has gradually boosted its building standards. Each severe quake has prompted new rules, with the most recent major overhaul coming after the 1994 quake in the Northridge section of Los Angeles that killed 72 people. >>


http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/west/2008/08/01/92428.htm

Are you aware what '¡' means?

Or just the extreme nature of the reply should indicate a meaning opposite of what I'm writing (i.e.: sarcasm).

bobringer

Soli said:

MacPro said:

bobringer said:

Soli said:

securtis said:

wonder how this will do in an earthquake? hope they thought about it

I doubt it¡ Everyone in California thinks earthquakes are a hoax and they don't have one regulation in the entire state that requires structures be resilient to massive earthquakes¡

I've seen a lot of #FakeNews in my day, but this about as fake as fake news gets.

<< Since the 1930s, California has gradually boosted its building standards. Each severe quake has prompted new rules, with the most recent major overhaul coming after the 1994 quake in the Northridge section of Los Angeles that killed 72 people. >>


http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/west/2008/08/01/92428.htm

Are you aware what '¡' means?

Or just the extreme nature of the reply should indicate a meaning opposite of what I'm writing (i.e.: sarcasm).

Have you SEEN the amount of crazy that's on the internet these days?