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According to the blueprints, there are 9 entrances/exits around the middle of the circle.

People like windows. People like trees and nature. This design allows everyone to look out the window and see the park in the middle.

I guess its a matter of cost versus benefit. I personally don't think its worth the cost. And if the cost keeps adding up, and they go through with it, investors won't think its worth it either.
 
$5 Billion might seem like too much until it lifts off the ground and defends the Earth from extraterrestrial invaders! ;)
 
This building design is so inefficient it's RIDICULOUS (i.e. loads of extra walking due solely to the shape of the building). Throw in the cost of the building and it shows exactly how far off the map Steve Jobs could be at times and how even further off the map Tim Cook must be to even CONSIDER actually making this building in this shape. It would be a total waste of Apple's resources.

You do realize you can go outside right? And that this was actually the intent? To make people go outside and bump and other people that they wouldn't normally see otherwise? Tim is smart for not screwing around with the very well thought out design of somebody who was smarter than he is.
 
If you look at the old layout (the traditional office park HP had at the site before Apple bought it) and the new design at:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/apple-campus2-project/Site_Plan_Submittal_4.pdf
the improved walking access and increased tree cover are fairly obvious.

A different article talked about Apple trying to reduce the cost overruns and bring the total projected cost down by 20%. If the contractor is really accomplishing that, then it is no wonder Apple is working with them on other projects.
 
So everyone is an architect...

I guess my schooling was a waste if I can just sign onto a computer forum and be told what is a good design or a bad design.

Foster + Partners have created a one of a kind building for a company that prides itself in design, and yet the consensus on here is that a cubic volume with the highest ratio of work/circulation space is the best option. Guys really? Shouldn't the iPhones be made with plastic then?

... and about those cost overages. Without knowing for what exactly, how does this get tagged onto the architecture firm? There are many factors in place here, and normally cost overages are associated with the contractors, materials, delays, and primarily CLIENT changes.

But, what would I know. It is not like I'm an architect ;)
 
I guess its a matter of cost versus benefit. I personally don't think its worth the cost. And if the cost keeps adding up, and they go through with it, investors won't think its worth it either.

Benefit for the workers is HUGE. Would you rather work in an office with bland concrete walls or an office with huge windows and a great view? The latter makes coming to work everyday much better.

I have left a job where I had to work in a basement with no windows. I had a gloomy dismal feeling without getting any sunlight. The job was ok, but I couldn't get motivated there - the environment sucked. I took another job in a building with lots of windows, and I felt much better, and a lot more motivated and productive.
 
Huh? What you says makes no sense.

You've got 10 houses along one side of a street, much like a long rectangular building. How do you create a 'short cut' from House 1 to House 10? You can't!

If you had 10 houses around a cul-de-sac (circle), EVERY house can be gotten to the other house by simply going through the middle. A LOT closer.

You're comparing individual houses in a row to a big square or rectangle in the same design of the circle one.

Nobody is talking about one long building.

GpamzbL.jpg
 
I'm glad Apple is concentrating on the *important* things - like a spaceship HQ building.

Product innovation or iOS refresh? Nah. Who needs it. Just tweak the iPhone 4 design slightly and keep it iOS as a grid of fixed icons.

What do the people involved in iPhone software and hardware have to do with the new campus? :confused:
 
Scrooges

Concern trolls. You know the story about the wood floors on the floor of the Apple Stores? The fancy glass staircases? The Italian marble? This was Steve's love. If you want to put up a Walmart, it's very cheap. Not even worth being called architecture. It's a bunch of drawings with measurements on it. If the "overruns" really concern people, they can bite me. Steve's vision of this building should be executed. The people behind this are the kinds of idiots who want more dividends, which is the real path to becoming another Microsoft.
 
Nobody is talking about one long building.

That is EXACTLY the comparison you were making. Enlighten me about what you are comparing the 'bad' circle design to. Show me a square/rectangular building that has all the benefits of the circle building in being able to walk from Point A to Point B faster.
 
Show me a square/rectangular building that has all the benefits of the circle building in being able to walk from Point A to Point B faster.
Well, pack all the cubicles in together in all dimensions and you get a pretty compact volume with minimal distance from one chair to another. None of that vast wasted space in the middle of that giant circle.

But then you'd have to work in it...
220px-Cube_The_Movie_Poster_Art.jpg
 
So it's going to cost more than anticpated. What else is new?
This is common in construction, especially if you have lots of customizations.

An overrun is when you have to spend beyond your predetermined budget. In this case, they are just re-forecasting the budget.

Have you ever try buying a new house and adding customizations?

.
 
This is as confusing of a story as I've seen in a while. The project is going to cost more and take up more resources so Apple is giving the company more responsibility? Something doesn't compute.

It's like our government representatives spending more and more money we don't have, yet we keep voting for them. Same mindset.
 
Well, pack all the cubicles in together in all dimensions and you get a pretty compact volume with minimal distance from one chair to another. None of that vast wasted space in the middle of that giant circle.

But then you'd have to work in it...

Or.... levels!

0.jpg


KRAMER: Yeah, I'm getting rid of all my furniture. All of it. And I'm going to build these different levels, with steps, and it'll all be carpeted with a lot of pillows. You know, like ancient Egypt.
 
I'm glad Apple is concentrating on the *important* things - like a spaceship HQ building.

Product innovation or iOS refresh? Nah. Who needs it. Just tweak the iPhone 4 design slightly and keep it iOS as a grid of fixed icons.

for goodness sake, please change the record
 
Foster + Partners is the lead architect on a $1Billion mixed use development project going into downtown Washington DC right now that will contain a (yet unannounced) flagship Apple store. Would not surprise me if they were working with Apple on that project.
 
Wow talk about MR have no news or rumors to report. How in the heck does this warrant a front page story?

Page hit whoring my good sir. It's all about those page hits.

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This building design is so inefficient it's RIDICULOUS (i.e. loads of extra walking due solely to the shape of the building). Throw in the cost of the building and it shows exactly how far off the map Steve Jobs could be at times and how even further off the map Tim Cook must be to even CONSIDER actually making this building in this shape. It would be a total waste of Apple's resources.

The extra walking space is a good thing. I'm pretty sure it's designed that way. More walking equals more times you bump into someone else so more collaborations. And more walking equals a healthier employee who can do their job better. And it's walking in amazing surroundings.

Nothing bad there so far.
 
Wow talk about MR have no news or rumors to report. How in the heck does this warrant a front page story?

Page hit whoring my good sir. It's all about those page hits.

Foster is one of the most notable architects in the world. Is it not interesting to you that his firm may be taking over responsibility for the design of some of the most iconic retail stores in the world?
 
Which cost overrun ?

Apple just stop giving money to shareholders (that screw them anyway) and the problem is gone.

Shareholders own the company - their invested dollars provided Apple with the resources to do its thing.

They deserve the return on their investment.
 
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