Latest Apple Park drone footage shows rough edges in wake of move-in deadline

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in General Discussion
New drone footage of Apple Park in Cupertino indicates that while the complex may be largely complete, significant work remains -- particularly in landscaping and on the Steve Jobs Theater.




Construction equipment is still present around many buildings, even the central ring, according to video captured by Matthew Roberts. Some of the "wings" on the ring are unfinished, and other work remains around the rooftop solar panels.

A few smaller structures are in a rough state, the Steve Jobs Theater among them. The above-ground portion of the building is covered in white panels, and surrounded by construction supplies. The 1,000-person auditorium is only supposed to open later this year, however -- presumably in time to announce new iPhones this fall.



Landscaping continues to look relatively barren, despite more planting. Apple's demand for trees is reportedly putting pressure on the local market, forcing contractors to source from out of state. The final tree count is expected to approach 9,000, with varieties like apple, apricot, cherry, and persimmon.

Parts of Apple Park should already be in use, since Apple announced that workers would begin occupying the space this month. Eventually the campus will hold over 12,000 people, mostly replacing Apple's famous 1 Infinite Loop headquarters, which should be repurposed by other teams.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 26
    kevin keekevin kee Posts: 1,289member
    And this is news... how exactly? It's normal for new building during initial occupancy to show some rough edge, thats it why there are stages for both occupancy and final construction.
    StrangeDays
  • Reply 2 of 26
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    Quality video. Duncan Sinfield finally has some real competition.

    kevin kee said:
    And this is news... how exactly? It's normal for new building during initial occupancy to show some rough edge, thats it why there are stages for both occupancy and final construction.
    How is this not news? We usually get drone footage at the end of every month. I, for one, love to see the progress month-to-month. I'll also watch the videos from other uploaders.
    equality72521stevenozpscooter63netmagebb-15jbdragon
  • Reply 3 of 26
    macxpressmacxpress Posts: 5,801member
    kevin kee said:
    And this is news... how exactly? It's normal for new building during initial occupancy to show some rough edge, thats it why there are stages for both occupancy and final construction.
    Maybe these video's aren't for you then...I happen to enjoy all of them. I think its nice to see the progresso of this amazing place. 

    It does still have a ways to go. I see a lot of landscaping that needs to be done but I knew that was going to take a long time to complete. It will look absolutely amazing when its all done and everything is grown in. 

    The solar panels are still not all the way installed on the main building. There's still a good chunk of them missing. 

    Still, this doesn't mean employees can't start moving into certain places of Apple Park and as we said before, it looks like they've already started a couple of weeks back. 

    I really can't wait to see this when its 100% complete and everything around it is grown in. 
    cornchippscooter63bb-15
  • Reply 4 of 26
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    Here's Duncan's video from 10 days ago. He took video during the day, dusk, and at night so you can see inside for once. At the end the rings light up in a spectacular fashion.




    A couple things I noticed (that hopefully someone here can answer):
    • It starts out showing a ditch being dug and there's some pipes in it further back. Would this have been planned or is this because something changed in the plans? It seems like a lot of extra digging if it could've been done months ago.
    • Lots of glass walls inside the floors. I wonder how common that will be since many departments, offices, and conference rooms will need more privacy. I wonder if they'll be using an active substrate in the glass that can switch between opaque and transparent.
    • The atrium is covered with large crates. I'm guessing those will be the tables and chairs and it's possible some of those could be set up right now since I'm going off a 10 day old video and I didn't notice the atrium's status in Matthew's video.
    • I wonder why they didn't put solar panels on top of the R&D and the other rectangular buildings. Seems like it would protect the elements from the equipment on the roof, make it appear nicer from above, and allow for even more energy to be created that can be put back onto the grid or stored in their fuel cell banks.
    • Will they use sod or seed for the grass? Seems like they'll need a few football fields of sod or a dump truck of seed.
    edited April 2017
  • Reply 5 of 26
    calicali Posts: 3,494member
    kevin kee said:
    And this is news... how exactly? It's normal for new building during initial occupancy to show some rough edge, thats it why there are stages for both occupancy and final construction.
    Because Apple is doomed. 
    pscooter63lkrupp
  • Reply 6 of 26
    What's usually said about a company moving into new headquarters? A corporate headstone. Here lies Apple. Gone before it's time in spite of a market cap of $750B. All the FANG stocks sucked the air out of Apple and that was the end of what was once a mighty company. We all knew doom was just around the corner. /s If Apple Park doesn't win some sort of design awards, I don't know what will. I can't wait until all the landscaping is finished. I could almost picture myself taking lunchtime strolls around the property. I wonder if they'll have special lighting for that pond at night. $5B is no small amount for a headquarters. It must break all records for cost.
  • Reply 7 of 26
    I'll repeat my usual comment:

    There better be a Discovery special on the construction of this like they've done for so many other large scale projects.
    macxpressSolicaliequality72521lkruppcornchippalomine
  • Reply 8 of 26
    macxpressmacxpress Posts: 5,801member
    I'll repeat my usual comment:

    There better be a Discovery special on the construction of this like they've done for so many other large scale projects.
    I would love to see Apple post their own video of the entire process. I don't care if its 2hrs long...its worth every second. In fact, I'd be disappointed if all they did was a 10-20 minute video. You can't show off 5+ years of planning, and building in 20 minutes. Too much gets left out in the end. 
    Soliequality72521bb-15cornchippscooter63radster360
  • Reply 9 of 26
    mpantonempantone Posts: 2,033member
    Soli said:
    • Will they use sod or seed for the grass? Seems like they'll need a few football fields of sod or a dump truck of seed.
    My guess it'll be sod, but not until about November. California is headed into their dry season.

    You could sod now, but you'd have to irrigate a lot.

    Seeding makes zero sense in late April/early May for the SF Bay Area.
    Solipropodpscooter63lostkiwi
  • Reply 10 of 26
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    $5B is no small amount for a headquarters. It must break all records for cost.
    Apple Park looks to be the most expensive corporate headquarters, but there are 5 structures currently more expensive than it, according to Wikipedia.

    pscooter63bb-15
  • Reply 11 of 26
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,092member
    kevin kee said:
    And this is news... how exactly? It's normal for new building during initial occupancy to show some rough edge, thats it why there are stages for both occupancy and final construction.
    It's more an update than news... take a chill pill.  Obviously, based on everyone's comments you are in a very tiny minority.  Why post such drivel?
    netmagecornchip
  • Reply 12 of 26
    macxpress said:
    I'll repeat my usual comment:

    There better be a Discovery special on the construction of this like they've done for so many other large scale projects.
    I would love to see Apple post their own video of the entire process. I don't care if its 2hrs long...its worth every second. In fact, I'd be disappointed if all they did was a 10-20 minute video. You can't show off 5+ years of planning, and building in 20 minutes. Too much gets left out in the end. 
    Love these ideas. I'd like a book also, Apple-style. Just fantastic stuff. 
    netmage
  • Reply 13 of 26
    mpantonempantone Posts: 2,033member
    kevin kee said:
    And this is news... how exactly? It's normal for new building during initial occupancy to show some rough edge, thats it why there are stages for both occupancy and final construction.
    AppleInsider is more of a rumors blog not a news site, although these days on the Internet, the line between the two is blurring a bit.

    Anyhow, this is noteworthy that Apple has missed their publicly stated intention of having the first employees move in by April although there might be some folks in the new R&D annex plus certain corporate IT, corporate security people, plant services folks already in the main building. However, when Apple said that the first employees would move in during April, it was implied that they were talking about an engineering team, not support personnel.
    edited April 2017
  • Reply 14 of 26
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    mpantone said:
    Anyhow, this is noteworthy that Apple has missed their publicly stated intention of having the first employees move in by April although there might be some folks in the new R&D annex plus certain corporate IT, corporate security people, plant services folks already in the main building. However, when Apple said that the first employees would move in during April, it was implied that they were talking about an engineering team, not support personnel.
    You can't say "Apple has missed" anything because there's still some trees to be planted and some solar panels to be installed in one area of this massive facility.
    bb-15StrangeDays
  • Reply 15 of 26
    haarhaar Posts: 563member
    Are they really working?, or just having chair races... lol
  • Reply 16 of 26
    Rayz2016Rayz2016 Posts: 6,957member
    mpantone said:
    kevin kee said:
    And this is news... how exactly? It's normal for new building during initial occupancy to show some rough edge, thats it why there are stages for both occupancy and final construction.
    AppleInsider is more of a rumors blog not a news site, although these days on the Internet, the line between the two is blurring a bit.

    Anyhow, this is noteworthy that Apple has missed their publicly stated intention of having the first employees move in by April although there might be some folks in the new R&D annex plus certain corporate IT, corporate security people, plant services folks already in the main building. However, when Apple said that the first employees would move in during April, it was implied that they were talking about an engineering team, not support personnel.
    Apple said the first employees would be in by April. The first employees are in before the end of April. They 'implied' nothing further. 
    netmagebb-15StrangeDays
  • Reply 17 of 26
    mpantone said:
    Soli said:
    • Will they use sod or seed for the grass? Seems like they'll need a few football fields of sod or a dump truck of seed.
    My guess it'll be sod, but not until about November. California is headed into their dry season.

    You could sod now, but you'd have to irrigate a lot.

    Seeding makes zero sense in late April/early May for the SF Bay Area.
    Why not use ground cover like ivy or vinca instead of grass? Then they wouldn't need a team of people mowing & maintaining it all the time. 
  • Reply 18 of 26
    mpantonempantone Posts: 2,033member
    mpantone said:
    Soli said:
    • Will they use sod or seed for the grass? Seems like they'll need a few football fields of sod or a dump truck of seed.
    My guess it'll be sod, but not until about November. California is headed into their dry season.

    You could sod now, but you'd have to irrigate a lot.

    Seeding makes zero sense in late April/early May for the SF Bay Area.
    Why not use ground cover like ivy or vinca instead of grass? Then they wouldn't need a team of people mowing & maintaining it all the time. 
    Sure, there are other ground covers like ice plant or the two you mentioned. However, you can sit on grass. One of the stated goals of Apple Park is to be an environment that is conducive to nurturing inspiration and collaboration. It's less comfortable to sit in ivy or ice plant.

    There are different varieties of grass, some are more drought tolerant than others, it doesn't need to be Kentucky Blue or some other water-loving, high-maintenance variety.
    edited April 2017 cornchip
  • Reply 19 of 26
    citycity Posts: 522member
    Will they use sod or seed for the grass? Seems like they'll need a few football fields of sod or a dump truck of seed.
    Other then in limited areas, grass that needs to be mowed is unlikely to be used on major commercial buildings in California because lawns require a lot of water. It's more likely that Apple will use "native grasses", if any. It's mow free and usually allowed to grow long. The trees will likely have drip irrigation and any grass would also have subsurface irrigation.
    edited April 2017 Soli
  • Reply 20 of 26
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    city said:
    Other then in limited areas, grass that needs to be mowed is unlikely to be used on major commercial buildings in California because lawns require a lot of water. It's more likely that Apple will use "native grasses", if any. It's mow free and usually allowed to grow long. The trees will likely have drip irrigation and any grass would also have subsurface irrigation.
    I'm not sure what that means as opposed to other grass native (or at least common) to an area that needs mowing, but it's a moot point since my question would still stand in relation to "native grasses" being planted or seeded.
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