Apple provides additional details, renderings for Cupertino campus project

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014


The city of Cupertino released on Friday updated plans and renderings for Apple's Cupertino campus project providing additional views of the proposed facility.



Late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs first unveiled plans for the new campus last June at a city council meeting. The main building, which Jobs described as "a little like a spaceship landed," will comprise 2.8 million square feet over its four stories.



The company is also planning to build a café and restaurant, fitness center and corporate auditorium with seating for up to 1,000 people on the grounds. 300,000 square feet of research facilities will be built nearby.



The majority of power for the facilities will be supplied by an "on-site low carbon Central Plant" and will also be supplemented by solar power. Apple's revised submittals feature more in-depth information on its plans to outfit the roof of the circular office building with solar panels. The city's power grid would serve as a backup for the facility. According to drawings for the project, photovoltaic canopies will ring the top of the building.





















Cupertino city officials have said that they will definitely approve the structure. Some local residents have expressed concerns, however, over the effect that the new campus will have on traffic, city growth and the environment. Apple is seeking over a dozen permits for the project.



Apple is hoping to break ground on the new campus later this year and open its doors in 2015. The company has planned for a 73 percent increase in capital expenditures this fiscal year, leading one analyst to speculate that a significant chunk of the increase will go toward the project.































Apple has planned jogging paths and pedestrian trails that will be spread throughout the grounds. The company intends to increase the amount of landscaping on the plot from 20 percent to 80 percent.











Renderings also show the external views planned for the campus from the road. Rows of trees will mostly obstruct sight lines for the office building. In a nod to the agricultural roots of Silicon Valley, Apple has said it will plant apricot orchards throughout the grounds and increase the number of trees on the property from 3,700 to 6,000.



















[ View article on AppleInsider ]

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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 94
    The chevrons are locking...
  • Reply 2 of 94
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    I'm told there is an identical one in Antarctica...
  • Reply 3 of 94
    How did I know they would put a massive bunker complex underneath this thing?
  • Reply 4 of 94
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    Just about the freaking coolest building ever. And certainly the coolest office building.



    It's still not too late to make those apartments an offer they can't refuse and make the ring even larger…



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    …Apple has said it will plant apricot orchards throughout the grounds…



    Does no one else see something incredibly wrong here?
  • Reply 5 of 94
    asciiascii Posts: 5,936member
    I wonder if people can co-operate in virtual space soon, making big office buildings out of date.
  • Reply 6 of 94
    nagrommenagromme Posts: 2,834member
    Doesn?t ?Mechanical Penthouse? just mean HVAC, elevator motors, and that kind of thing, elevated as they often are in little structures above a building's top floor?



    I?m pretty sure my building has a ?Mechanical Room,? but I doubt it?s very exciting.



    P.S. That?s a LOT of solar cells!
  • Reply 7 of 94
    nasseraenasserae Posts: 3,167member
    SWEET.. Foundation base isolation. A must in areas such as SF. I would love to see the structural drawings for the building.. I know not going to happen. Anyone knows what is the inside and outside radius of the structure? I am interested in knowing where they placed the expansion joints.
  • Reply 8 of 94
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by NasserAE View Post


    Anyone knows what is the inside and outside radius of the structure? I am interested in knowing where they placed the expansion joints.



    The outer radius is slightly larger than that of the Pentagon. Not sure about the inner.
  • Reply 9 of 94
    slurpyslurpy Posts: 5,382member
    Fucking amazing.



    Too bad Steve won't be around to see it built and completed.
  • Reply 10 of 94
    charlitunacharlituna Posts: 7,217member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by nagromme View Post


    P.S. That?s a LOT of solar cells!



    From what I recall, Apple said they would be willing to sell any excess power to the city. .



    Even if that's not true, I would dare say they will probably be 'off grid' in terms of using power from the city for almost all if not all of their power.
  • Reply 11 of 94
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Slurpy View Post


    Fucking amazing.



    Too bad Steve won't be around to see it built and completed.





    Steve saw it first.
  • Reply 12 of 94
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


    Does no one else see something incredibly wrong here?



    Not at all. For starters it would be cliché and trite to have Apple trees simply because it's the name of the company. From what I understand nearly all US apricots are grown in California. I would not be surprised if Cupertino was a large apricot producers, perhaps even on that very site.



    I'm also under the impression that apricot trees are about half the height of apple trees which could play an important role in the landscaping. There are probably some other reasons like ideal conditions for growth or insects, etc. but most important reason is probably because apricot trees are much more aesthetically pleasing than apple trees.
  • Reply 13 of 94
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


    The outer radius is slightly larger than that of the Pentagon. Not sure about the inner.



    By the looks of it the inner radius is longer which means the space between the two is smaller. If what I was told in school is correct the Pentagon, besides being 5-sided, is 5 stories, which 5 corridors internally, with 5 stories, and a 5 acre courtyard in the middle.
  • Reply 14 of 94
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    Some local residents have expressed concerns, however, over the effect that the new campus will have on traffic, city growth and the environment.



    Employees are already working at buildings on this site and have already bought houses in the area.



    Apple has owned this land and has had employees working in the buildings sitting on it for a number of years now.
  • Reply 15 of 94
    cvaldes1831cvaldes1831 Posts: 1,832member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    Apple has said it will plant apricot orchards throughout the grounds and increase the number of trees on the property from 3,700 to 6,000.



    Does no one else see something incredibly wrong here?



    If you're insinuating that Apple should be planting apple orchards, well, you're wrong.



    Apricots and other stone fruits are the historic crops in this part of Santa Clara County. The street that connects Apple's current HQ on 1 Infinite Loop to De Anza Boulevard is Mariani Avenue; the Apple HQ used to be on Mariani Ave (on the other side of De Anza Blvd) in the company's formative years. The road was named after a farming family (of Croatian origin, if I remember correctly) that used to have orchards in the area.



    Today's one of that family's descendants is still farming, albeit in Morgan Hill: Andy Mariani (http://www.andysorchard.com). He's a stone fruit expert. Much of the fruit farming has moved to south Santa Clara County where property is cheaper and more plentiful, however the entire area is superb for stone fruit cultivation.



    Three miles north of Cupertino in Santa Clara is the historic C.J. Olson fruit stand. The enormous cherry orchards have long been built over, there's a small heritage cherry orchard in Sunnyvale. In Saratoga -- a few miles south of Cupertino -- the plums were rather famous. There's a heritage stone fruit orchard around the Saratoga Public Library.



    The Marianis and Olsons were part of a wave of immigrants in the late 19th century who planted fruit orchards (mostly stone fruit) and vineyards (mostly for wine production). Apples were never a commonly planted crop in western Santa Clara County.



    If you walk into a house in west Santa Clara County that was built in the Fifties and Sixties (like an Eichler), there's a good chance there's a heritage stone fruit tree or two in the backyard or maybe a newer one that replaced the original tree(s).



    Even today, apricot production is getting squeezed. Brentwood, Gilroy, Morgan Hill, Hollister: those are today's quality apricot growing areas, although many growers have moved away from the fabulous Blenheim apricot to other more commercially viable cultivars.



    Planting apricot trees in Cupertino is a tip of the hat to the settlers from 100-120 years ago.



    Remember that Steve Jobs grew up in Cupertino, probably would have walked by apricot orchards on his way to Homestead High.



    He selected apricot trees for a reason. Just like pretty much everything else Steve did.
  • Reply 16 of 94
    nasseraenasserae Posts: 3,167member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


    The outer radius is slightly larger than that of the Pentagon. Not sure about the inner.



    Thanks for the tip. So it is in the 800 ft radius. I bet it is 1618 ft in diameter, which is one dimension of the golden rectangle. That makes the circumference about 5100 ft. So we are looking at at least nine separate structures. This confirm my suspicion that those nine entrances shown in the roof rendering represent the number of expansion joints.
  • Reply 17 of 94
    gtrgtr Posts: 3,231member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


    Does no one else see something incredibly wrong here?



    I can.



    Here's an additional view of the building from the East side.







    Notice that structure just to the left?



    Orc barracks. Plain and simple.
  • Reply 18 of 94
    apple ][apple ][ Posts: 9,233member
    For those people wondering about the apricot trees, did you not see the video of Steve Jobs making the presentation a while back? I believe that he mentioned something about the apricot trees in that video.
  • Reply 19 of 94
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Apple ][ View Post


    For those people wondering about the apricot trees, did you not see the video of Steve Jobs making the presentation a while back? I believe that he mentioned something about the apricot trees in that video.



    Yep!
  • Reply 20 of 94
    Ringworld Engineers.
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