Apple is well-known for it's innovative designs and tremendous momentum maintained in the tech industry. The newly-designed headquarters in Cupertino, California is no exception. It will be called "Apple Park" and the features of this futurist area stay true to Apple's wow-factor reputation. These new headquarters are expected to open in April, although construction will continue throughout summer. It will take the duration of six months for all 12,000 employees to move into the new space.
An environmentally friendly design
The design of these new headquarters reminiscent of a spaceship due to its giant ring-like design that will rest on 2.8 million square feet.
The outside will be covered in curved glass, an architectural feature built with some of the largest pieces of curved glass in the world.
The building will be powered completely by renewable energy with solar panels decorating the rooftop to generate 17 megawatts; the natural ventilation of space will reduce (and potentially eliminate) the need for heating and air-conditioning in the space for nine months of the year. Like the curved glass, this feature is record-breaking as the largest naturally ventilated building in the world.
The entire campus will be situated on 175-square acres. And because "being green" is a huge part of this new facility, existing asphalt will be almost entirely replaced with greenery--9,000 trees to be exact.
A plethora of nature paths will be designed throughout the facility for employee use, in-addition to an orchard, meadow, and pond. If that isn't enough as a health-benefit, a 100,000-square-foot gym will constructed in Apple Park for employee use as well.
Apple Park's amphitheater
The new campus will include an amphitheater named after Apple's late co-founder, Steve Jobs.
Before his death, Steve Jobs helped design this 175-acre campus. Jobs planned for the project to be completed in 2015, but even if a bit late, his vision is coming to fruition.
The entrance will be a glass cylinder with a metallic carbon-fiber roof; it will be 20 feet tall and 165 feet in diameter. After construction is complete, it will seat 1,000 and will be used for the new product announcements.
