Cupertino official warned Apple of potential Apple Park glass impacts 9 months ago

Posted:
in General Discussion
A report on Friday sheds new light on a very unique issue Apple is dealing with at its Apple Park campus, saying a Cupertino city officials raised concerns about employees walking into glass doors, panels and walls well before the facility opened this year.


Massive glass doors at Apple Park's cafeteria.


In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, Cupertino building official Albert Salvador and Santa Clara County Fire Department representative Dirk Mattern said they brought the potential issue to Apple's attention during a site visit some nine months ago. Specifically, Salvador was concerned employees would walk into the cafeteria's glass walls, into which are integrated large floor-to-ceiling doors.

"We did recognize that this is going to be an issue, especially when they clean the glass," Salvador said. "When you clean the windows, you can't even tell some of them are there."

Underscoring their point, as Salvador and Mattern were discussing the topic with an Apple contractor, another worker walked into a glass wall.

Subsequent injuries have been reported to emergency services. According to information gleaned from a Santa Clara County public records request, three people suffered head injuries while moving into the campus in early January, the report said. 911 audio retrieved in the request reveals one victim was bleeding from their eyebrow after striking a window.

Prior to being granted approval to open, and as a result of Salvador and Mattern's urgings, Apple Park architects Foster + Partners placed black rectangular stickers on the cafeteria's doors. The same markers were put on other clear glass surfaces around the facility's main "spaceship" structure following the January incidents.

The stickers appear to be doing their job, as no further incidents were reported to emergency services following their installation.

The design problem was highlighted in a report earlier this month that noted Apple Park employees were bumping into glass panes separating the collaborative "pods" that make up the facility's interior. Workers had taken to applying sticky notes on clear surfaces, but the markers were supposedly being removed because they detracted from the building's design.

Apple was well aware of the issue. Today's report points to a January statement in which Apple VP of real estate and development Dan Whisenhunt told the Rotary Club of Cupertino that birds flying into the central ring structure's glass walls was not a problem.

"Now, the humans on the inside, that's a different story," Whisenhunt said. "We've had people bump into the glass. That's a problem we are working on right now."
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 74
    cgWerkscgWerks Posts: 2,952member
    Can one even parody this? :)
  • Reply 2 of 74
    zroger73zroger73 Posts: 787member
    Instead of cheap and tacky "black, rectangular stickers", I would have had the Apple logo etched into the glass.
    shark5150stourquegenovelleAvieshekmwhiteGeorgeBMacking editor the gratebageljoeywg45678watto_cobra
  • Reply 3 of 74
    mknelsonmknelson Posts: 1,118member
    Or they could mount LEDs angled to shine onto the glass from an oblique angle. From a distance you wouldn't see anything but as you get closer the reflection would get your attention.
    genovelleradarthekatking editor the gratejony0wlympscooter63
  • Reply 4 of 74
    All they have to do is have all Apple employees wear wide brimmed hats, like sombreros. Problem solved.
    baconstangguerrosupadav03jasenj1SpamSandwichradarthekatGeorgeBMacStrangeDaysbageljoeypembroke
  • Reply 5 of 74
    bloggerblogbloggerblog Posts: 2,462member
    Frosted adhesive cut into shapes of trees and leaves to reflect the forestry from out in the park.
    These adhesives are very convincing, they look and feel like sandblasted glass.
    supadav03jony0
  • Reply 6 of 74
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    It's ridiculous that Apple went forward assuming this would be a non-issue.
    muthuk_vanalingam
  • Reply 7 of 74
    baconstangbaconstang Posts: 1,103member
    Write an app for everyone's iPhone that would notify them of the approaching danger.  They're probably staring at it already anyway.
    edited March 2018 stanthemanGeorgeBMacjony0
  • Reply 8 of 74
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,092member
    Raising a big stink about nothing.  Slap some tasteful frosted-glass decals on them and be done with it, or better yet... pay attention.  Jeez... everyone has to have something to complain about.

    edited March 2018 supadav032old4fun
  • Reply 9 of 74
    fastasleepfastasleep Posts: 6,408member
    Finally, a use case for these:



    cmd-zbaconstangguerrojasenj1cgWerksAvieshekGeorgeBMaccory949pembrokejbdragon
    iu.jpeg 128.2K
  • Reply 10 of 74
    KuyangkohKuyangkoh Posts: 838member
    Why in a heck the City officials approved the darn thing if safety is the ussue?? 
    muthuk_vanalingamxzu
  • Reply 11 of 74
    rogifan_newrogifan_new Posts: 4,297member
    Oh my god the news gets dumber every day.
    JFC_PAStrangeDaysJWSCpatchythepirate
  • Reply 12 of 74
    Seems like something the chief architect should of thought of.
    JWSC
  • Reply 13 of 74
    rogifan_newrogifan_new Posts: 4,297member
    zroger73 said:
    Instead of cheap and tacky "black, rectangular stickers", I would have had the Apple logo etched into the glass.
    Do you have a photo of these stickers you claim are cheap and tacky so we can all judge for ourselves?
    StrangeDaystycho_macuser
  • Reply 14 of 74
    supadav03supadav03 Posts: 503member
    Why not just put some sort of etched or frosted design on parts of the glass and move on
  • Reply 15 of 74
    jasenj1jasenj1 Posts: 923member
    I hope some competitors make ads mocking this ASAP. They deserve all the mocking they get for this.

    muthuk_vanalingam
  • Reply 16 of 74
    DAalsethDAalseth Posts: 2,783member
    Pet peeve of mine: Architects that are so intent on making a design statement they forget someone has to live or work in the place. In this case I can’t tell though if it was the architects or Ive and the others from Apple that pushed this.
    edited March 2018 muthuk_vanalingamcgWerks
  • Reply 17 of 74
    JFC_PAJFC_PA Posts: 932member
    Before occupancy, as noted, they put markers on the glass. Non issue. 
  • Reply 18 of 74
    JFC_PAJFC_PA Posts: 932member
    jasenj1 said:
    I hope some competitors make ads mocking this ASAP. They deserve all the mocking they get for this.

    Solved months ago. Yawn. 
    jbdragon
  • Reply 19 of 74
    JFC_PAJFC_PA Posts: 932member
    supadav03 said:
    Why not just put some sort of etched or frosted design on parts of the glass and move on
    They. Did. 
  • Reply 20 of 74
    JFC_PAJFC_PA Posts: 932member
    Kuyangkoh said:
    Why in a heck the City officials approved the darn thing if safety is the ussue?? 
    Because it was a trivial issue easily solved. As noted in the actual article. 
    cory949cornchip
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