Drone video offers best view of the ongoing construction of Apple Campus 2, so far.
One of the most closely watched, and filmed, construction zones in the world, the Apple Campus 2, was captured once again, in a compelling fly-through by drone, which was posted Friday December 4th, by YouTuber Duncan Sinfield.
The 3 minutes and 29 seconds video, features a noticeable amount of production, and for those who don’t really care for soundtracks, the general advice is to mute your device. Sound of no sound, the video offers beautiful captioned sequences of the massive structure.
In the video, it’s possible to see already how the building is taking shape, from the four-story ring-shaped structure, to the 14,200 spaces underground parking, as well as the 1000-seat underground auditorium, which is expected to be used for all future keynote presentations and product unveilings.
Once completed, the new building, constructed to supplement the structure at One Infinite Loop with room for an additional 13,000 Apple employees, will cover an area of 2.8 million square ft. or 176 acres. 300,000 square feet of the facility will be allocated to research facilities and underground parking.
This new setting will allow research and development of future Apple products, like MacBooks and future iOS devices, with an enhanced level of secrecy, to avoid early information leaks, typical of pre-production stages.
The new facilities are often referred to as Apple’s “Spaceship Campus”, a name earned from its radial design, which will integrate a continuous loop of curved glass, wrapping both the external, and inner walls.
According to Seele, the entity tasked with building glass staircases for all Apple stores worldwide, was reached by Bloomberg for comment, and revealed a total length of the required glass, measured at almost 3.8 miles.
The entire area within the radial hole of the building, will be one giant outdoor park, dominated by plant life. Within this area there will be no motorized vehicles permitted, aside from bicycles, made available by Apple to its employees, as a faster way to get from one section of the building to another.
A fun fact about the new Spaceship Campus is that the new facility will function for 75% of the year, without air conditioning, using natural ventilation, and will use recycled water, by building as much as 13,300 feet of pipeline, which will provide water for the building, as well as the city of Cupertino.
These considerations, coupled with the massive park area surrounded by the campus itself, will make the Apple Campus 2, one of the greenest buildings in California, featuring grass covered areas, in excess of 80% of the total area occupied by the facility, In turns, the Apple Campus 2 will most likely be seen as one of the most desirable workplaces in the world.
According to what we know, the existing headquarters at One Infinite Loop will remain intact, with no plans, at least so far, to dispose or sell the area formerly owned by Hewlett Packard.
The civic impact of the new building will be massive, with a $30.6 million boost, with 8 million of extra revenues for retirement plans of city employees, $8.3 million used for pavement maintenance, and the remaining funds to be available to Cupertino’s capital reserve.