Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
The walk across the courtyard is still slower and further than an elevator ride.

Thus, "enhance collaboration between teams", my ass.
[doublepost=1457229858][/doublepost]

Please stop drinking the Apple marketing Kool-aid.

This design DOES NOT allow for increased collaboration, period. It makes things HARDER for people to come together, as it increases both the distance AND the time it takes to "get together".

A ring is about the most INEFFICIENT design you could use for such a purpose.

This is simple, obvious fact.

Buuuut, it looks cool. They should just say that instead: "we wanted to make a cool building".

Just don't lie to us with this "collaboration" BS.
I agree and as we know, anything with Apple; aesthetic comes first before function. I should note though, Apples Infinite Loop Campus would probably have the same effect. For someone to reach the opposite ends of both loops with probably require some walking. I believe Jony's Team is at floor level at the current campus; while Tim Cook is on the executive floor.

The new campus is likely to keep "relevant" teams closer. Jony mentioned his office will be on the top floor, I don't know if this goes for co-workers and the design studio overall. It is likely the Circle will be divided into slices based on how relevant your team is to the next. Executive, Design & Engineering, Q&A, Marketing, Public Relations, Cafeteria. There are layers below each group, with the Leadership Team at the top of each floor.
 
Haven't really looked into it, but how would that work with a building like that?
The millions of dollars worth of solar panel equipment that will be housed at the top of the building. Apple's aim is to make it green to the point they will come off the grid. That in itself will save the company hundreds of millions of dollars over many years. They will probably redistribute some of that energy to power stores and other stuff.
 
The millions of dollars worth of solar panel equipment that will be housed at the top of the building. Apple's aim is to make it green to the point they will come off the grid. That in itself will save the company hundreds of millions of dollars over many years. They will probably redistribute some of that energy to power stores and other stuff.
That would seem to relate to power usage, but I'm not sure how that relates to not needing AC most of the time.
 
The walk across the courtyard is still slower and further than an elevator ride.

Thus, "enhance collaboration between teams", my ass.
[doublepost=1457229858][/doublepost]

Please stop drinking the Apple marketing Kool-aid.

This design DOES NOT allow for increased collaboration, period. It makes things HARDER for people to come together, as it increases both the distance AND the time it takes to "get together".

A ring is about the most INEFFICIENT design you could use for such a purpose.

This is simple, obvious fact.

Buuuut, it looks cool. They should just say that instead: "we wanted to make a cool building".

Just don't lie to us with this "collaboration" BS.

I've worked in medium sized companies where I never met the people in the floors below or above me despite the odds of eventually sharing an elevator with them and I've worked at a large company where the office was one big open floor plan and even the CEO sat at a desk in the large space and I knew almost everyone.

The courtyard is one big opportunity for people to meet. People will naturally tend to gravitate to landmarks like the water fountain providing for different meeting opportunities. I'm not just taking Apple's word for it. Sir Norman Foster is world renowned for his functional buildings. He's one of a few living architecture legends and as you'll be able to see in his interviews about Apple HQ, it didn't start off as a circle. It evolved into one as they figured out the best way to meet the goals of the new campus, one of which was to encourage serendipitous meetings.
 
I drove past there just a couple of hours ago (despite the fence, it is quite visible from Homestead Road, where it is right next to the street), and I can tell you that there is no tree in Cupertino that is high enough to conceal that building in any way.

The building is really impressive, though it will stand out like a sore thumb there (which is not necessarily a bad thing). I just wonder what it will do for the traffic there when 10,000 cars roll towards that building every morning.
How much office floorspace was in the buildings that previously occupied the same area? Apple's new campus offers more green space than the previous usage did. It's office buildings are not taller (probably have on average less floors). Only the parking has moved from on-surface aka one-story to underground and multi-story. Apple is also offering shuttle busses (which the previous occupants very likely didn't or if they did to a lesser extent).

My guess is that the number of cars won't change significantly and if I had to bet, I'd say it'll be a slightly smaller number than before.
 
That would seem to relate to power usage, but I'm not sure how that relates to not needing AC most of the time.

They mean normal forced air conditioning. There will still be cooling involved.

The concrete floors/ceilings are embedded with pipes that will circulate cold water, which is the "radiant cooling" you read about. It's like heated floors, only chilled instead.

So with the mild climate there, chilled floors will be enough to handle things 70% of the year. During the other 30% of the time, regular forced fan A/C will have to be used as well.

It's like saying a building doesn't need to use a forced air furnace most of the year, because it's almost always using baseboard heat.
 
Last edited:



Construction on Apple's second campus in Cupertino, California continues to progress as its completion date looms, and this month, further work has been done on the main ring-shaped building that spans 2.8 million square feet.

I hope all those Apple employees are given nice new shoes, because The shape of that building will require one heck of a lot of walking… "I need to go to the marketing department. I'll be back next Wednesday…"
 
  • Like
Reactions: MobiusStrip
I don't understand how that works. The shortest distance between two points is a straight line.

The distance between the two points is always the same. The shortest PATH between them is a straight line.

And yes, very likely Apple has created yet another cumbersome design.
 
The distance between the two points is always the same. The shortest PATH between them is a straight line.

And yes, very likely Apple has created yet another cumbersome design.

Yes, you're right. I was relying too much on context.

So, to ammend my statement:

The shortest distance to be traveled between two points is a straight line.:)
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.