Here’s a look inside Apple Park, the company’s massive, futuristic headquarters that opened in 2018 and cost $5 billion to build.
Apple Park is located in Cupertino, California, a short distance from the original Apple headquarters at 1 Infinite Loop.
The main building is a giant, multistory circle, colloquially known as “the ring” or “the spaceship.”
The cost of building Apple Park
The tech giant reportedly spent $5 billion on Apple Park construction. The ring is a stunning feat of design that blurs the indoor space with the environment outside, which has been landscaped with fruit trees (including apple trees, of course) and other native plants.
The building features incredible four-story curved glass windows, solar panels on the roof, and natural ventilation that reduces the need for heat/air conditioning.
The campus is also specially engineered to withstand earthquakes — its foundation sits on hundreds of movable steel saucers rather than being actually attached to the Earth, a design called “base isolation” technology.
Is it possible to visit Apple Park?
Apple Park is typically accessible only to employees, save for two areas: a visitor center and the Steve Jobs Theater, where Apple events are held to announce new products.
The Steve Jobs Theater is named for the company’s legendary co-founder Steve Jobs and can accommodate up to 1,000 people.
The visitor center is the only place the public is allowed on the campus without a pass, and it’s free to enter. You can buy exclusive Apple merch there.
What is the capacity of Apple Park?
Apple Park features nearly 3 million square feet of office space and can accommodate about 12,000 Apple employees. That’s a bit less than half of Apple’s Bay Area workforce.
Who would get to work at Apple Park was a point of contention among the company’s local employees. Executives, including Apple CEO Tim Cook and chief design officer Jony Ive, moved to the new campus, as well as software development teams and design teams.
Is Apple Park bigger than the Pentagon?
An interesting rumor emerged after the plan to build Apple Park was originally announced in 2011: Apple Park would be bigger than the Pentagon, the headquarters of the US military in Arlington, Virginia.
However, at 2.8 million square feet, it’s significantly smaller than the Pentagon, which measures 6.5 million square feet.
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