The new Apple headquarters which is dubbed as the "Flying Spaceship" is only few months away from finishing. Foster + Partners, an award winning British architecture and design studio, was behind the design of HQ.
The late Steve Jobs who first proposed the new building to the Cupertino city council around 2011 made it clear that the building was to have a minimal impact on the environment. Hence, the building was geared towards becoming self-sufficient, applying thousands of solar roof panels as an alternative energy source. In a good three-quarters of the year, the main building will avoid air condition and heating. What sounds fun though is that the futuristic building has arrangements for the employees to do their work in open air. 500 tables that run 18 feet long were custom designed by Dutch company, Arco.
Regarding how the design was conceptualized, Foster + Partners's founder, Norman Foster, said, "It didn't start as a circular building, it grew into that. So the idea of one building with a great park was borne out of a very intensive process".
The Apple building's overall area, which is at 2.8 million square feet, is one of the biggest offices in the capital. The designers thought about how several departments had to work together so the building was calculated for vertical and horizontal movement in the buildings. One feature that is sure to keep employees pleased is the addition of a restaurant.
The price for the whole shebang is roughly at $5 billion, according to former project managers. However, it should be noted that Apple has not released yet the total cost of the new building so there is a possibility that the price may be higher. A former construction manager noted that the interior of the main building alone was worth more than a billion dollars.
