Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
I wonder why they chose carbon fibre for the roof instead of traditional materials? It would be far more expensive! Internal acoustics?

I think it might be due to the weight of other materials, there seems to be no central support to the roof - the only support being the curved glass. I am not sure on this but thats my thinking..
 
Outfitting the campus in curved glass requires 3,000 panels, each of which is 46 feet long and 10.5 feet wide, and getting those panels into place required Apple to build custom machines it calls "Manipulators."

That's like claiming that "I had to build scaffolding" when I hired someone to paint my new building. No, the painters did.

Likewise, Apple didn't "build" anything, much less custom machines or carbon roofs. The contractors they hired did.

You're confusing Apple with Samsung, which actually has a construction division that has built iconic structures such as Burj Khalifa, Taipei 101 & Petronas Towers.
 
I think it might be due to the weight of other materials, there seems to be no central support to the roof - the only support being the curved glass. I am not sure on this but thats my thinking..

i wonder how strong those rods in the middle support the root actually are... ? I guess Apple was aiming for cutting back on money where they used elsewhere, but i wonder how well it would stuck up in wind, or storm.

Looking forward to watching a long detailed documentary on the design and construction of this building, then visiting in person.

same here if Apple gets the airfare..

Also its like we now focus "The Roof" instead of the main building itself... (pass the topic)
 
The moment you don't want it to be called "UFO" is the moment it starts to be called UFO.
Will this be the design of the iPhone X (in 2020)? :)
 
Which company has a spaceship shaped campus with a 4,000 seat dining hall?
So far we have only talked about seat and employee numbers, not the shape of buildings. And if we stick to that, there are many companies that have multi-thousand cafeterias.

So, they had 3,000 people for both Moscone and Bill Graham. Which means for a smaller event like the latter, they're going to have to limit their invite list --
Have you been listening to what I said? The WWDC keynote hall is so large because it has to fit thousands of developers, the developers clearly outnumber the journalists in that room. And last time I checked, WWDC was an event that occurred once a year, plus WWDC needs more than just a 3000-seat room. It needs many big conference rooms for all the individual sessions. Event for Apple it does not make sense to build facilities that are going to be needed only once per year.

something that's going to become more difficult as they start to become relevant in the fashion world. And none of Apple's employees will be able to attend to help "evangelize".
The use of the Graham center was the first time Apple used such a large venue for a product unveiling outside of WWDC. There can be many reasons why Apple choose that location, not least the need to have a significant amount of hands-on area for the journalists to try out the announced products (note that at their first watch event, they built a large tent to serve as the hands-on area) but also scheduling conflicts at other venues. But feel free to base your speculation on how Apple is going to announce products in the future on a single event and base the reason for choice of venue of that event on only one possible explanation.

And with 12,000 employees, one would think they would build a facility that might address various conferences and events relevant and targeted to up to a 1/4 of their workforce. Not to mention, they could hold four separate presentations in one day, and address everyone on campus, rather than 12 individual presentations over multiple days.
Really, why would Apple built such facilities if no other big company has done so? Can you point me to other companies that regularly address large portions (as in 1/4) of their employees at staged events?
 
AppleCampusLobby.jpg


That is pretty amazing.

Presumably it can stay standing with a significant number of those glass panels broken. Wonder how they replace them though - will they need to lift the roof up?

How do Americans feel about them spelling theatre the British way? Does it seem pretentious?
 
Well shouldn't it be like .3 yards not 1 foot if everything else is in yards? I guess it just sounds stupid to say they are on the .3 yard line.
Well, you switch to the measurement that makes more sense. And it's basically similar in the metric system where if it's something under one meter it would be often expressed in centimeters.
[doublepost=1457447085][/doublepost]
If they're identical, what need of an average?
Seems like that has been discussed a few times earlier in the thread.
 
So far we have only talked about seat and employee numbers, not the shape of buildings. And if we stick to that, there are many companies that have multi-thousand cafeterias.

Yep, not uncommon.

Really, why would Apple built such facilities if no other big company has done so? Can you point me to other companies that regularly address large portions (as in 1/4) of their employees at staged events?

These days, with real estate and travel being an extra cost, larger corporations often use internal webcasting to reach all their employees, no matter where they are in the world.

How do Americans feel about them spelling theatre the British way? Does it seem pretentious?

Although American schoolkids are taught to write "theater" and most people do so in casual or military usage, both spellings ("theater" and "theatre") are common in the US when used as a name for dramatic actor or movie venues, although "theatre" is usually considered more "artistic" or high brow.

But yes, it can be considered slightly pretentious (or humorous) if applied to a lesser venue, such as a seedy hotel's entertainment room or a elementary school gym building used during a student play :)
 
Really, why would Apple built such facilities if no other big company has done so? Can you point me to other companies that regularly address large portions (as in 1/4) of their employees at staged events?
When has Apple ever done anything exactly like other established corporations? Continuously comparing what Apple would do to what Microsoft of Google does is pointless. Even their spaceship campus is unprecedented.
 
Although American schoolkids are taught to write "theater" and most people do so in casual or military usage, both spellings ("theater" and "theatre") are common in the US when used as a name for dramatic actor or movie venues, although "theatre" is usually considered more "artistic" or high brow.

But yes, it can be considered slightly pretentious (or humorous) if applied to a lesser venue, such as a seedy hotel's entertainment room or a elementary school gym building used during a student play :)

Interesting, thanks!
 
When has Apple ever done anything exactly like other established corporations? Continuously comparing what Apple would do to what Microsoft of Google does is pointless. Even their spaceship campus is unprecedented.
I'm not comparing Apple with other technology companies when it comes to their office buildings. I'm comparing it with any other large organisation, including non-governmental or supranational. Their employees all need to eat, which means they generally have large cafeterias. Their employees all need to get to work and thus depending on public transport infrastructure, they'll need parking spaces. The new Apple Campus might be unusual in its large percentage of greenspace and use of a horizontally very large single building that is pretty low-rise in an unusual shape (though the height of the building(s) likely is limited by building codes).

If you can show me any indication that Apple differs significantly from other companies in how often it assembles large portions of its employees for staged events, you would have a point. But you can't.
 
If you can show me any indication that Apple differs significantly from other companies in how often it assembles large portions of its employees for staged events, you would have a point. But you can't.

Thank you for turning this into a strawman debate for your own point, which was never mine. Employee use case but was one item I could forsee Apple needing a large presentation space. Regardless, you are still comparing Apple's needs to other organizations. Pointless.
 
Last edited:
Thank you for turning this into a strawman debate for your own point, which was never mine. Employee use case but was one item I could forsee Apple needing a large presentation space. Regardless, you are still comparing Apple's needs to other organizations. Pointless.
Yeah, pointless because Apple is so unique in the Universe that even its toilets flush in a different way.
 
Yeah, pointless because Apple is so unique in the Universe that even its toilets flush in a different way.

OK you want an example? Here's one a lot close to Apple than any other organization you've mentioned so far -- Warner Bros. Studios. Their on lot theater seats 600 people on a space restricted campus, which routinely hosts events for its employees (around 3,000 on campus of which the theater accommodates 1/5), as well as media events, seminars, lectures, conferences and numerous other programs.
 
Thank you for turning this into a strawman debate for your own point, which was never mine. Employee use case but was one item I could forsee Apple needing a large presentation space. Regardless, you are still comparing Apple's needs to other organizations. Pointless.

This seems a pointless debate. Apple has a long history of holding meetings for both employees and the media. They probably have a very good idea of what they'll need going forward. The rest is simply a "rent or buy" decision. You buy what you'll need on a regular basis, you rent what you need on an infrequent basis. Well, you do unless factors like vanity enter the equation. Considering the dimensions of the new theater, vanity is probably restrained (not wholly absent, considering the design, but restrained). Consider the auditoriums you'd find at a garden-variety high school or college.

As to whether it needs to accommodate an all-hands meeting... when fully occupied, the campus will house well less than a tithe of worldwide staff. If a true all-hands meeting was necessary, it's going to be distributed by electronic means - they'd likely setup screens in places like the cafeteria for the hoipaloi. The "live studio audience" would undoubtedly be limited to people like locally-situated department heads and higher-ranking executives from other locations flown in for the occasion.

I like that the theater is underground. Not only does it allow for more open space, but it may substantially reduce HVAC costs - less need to heat in unseasonably cold weather, less need to cool in unseasonably warm weather - just exchange stale air for fresh under many conditions.

Although the lobby design seems extravagant, I have a feeling it comes at a relatively small incremental cost. A light roof means a lighter supporting structure. Impervious materials means lower long-term maintenance. It'll make a big impression (which is a major reason theater lobbies tend to be extravagant) without such traditional glitz as crystal chandeliers, gold leaf, sculptures and murals, etc.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.