Apple Hires New General Contractor for Apple Campus 2, Sparking Delay Speculation

[tentales]

The construction industry is so wasteful in terms of actual productive man-hours. How many times do you drive by a building or road construction and see workers standing around talking, while being paid $30-40 an hour? Get back to work!

Yea, especially around Vancouver, eh ? Remember the costly olympic village bailout us taxpayers are still paying for in property taxes.

Too many sub-contractors and shell corporations insulating themselves from cost overruns.

Road construction though is public works, whereas Apple Campus is paid for by a nigh on trillion $ corporation, and contractors are milking it!

 

[kdarling]

I worked for R&S when they built the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Very well run, meticulous company. We did all kinds of first of kind things on that project.

Nice!

Makes sense then, if they are the ones doing the interior (and maybe glass also?) fittings.

 

[prowlmedia]

They were building it wrong?

Oh dear. Please remove your sunglasses. You are not remotely cool or clever.

 

[phillipduran]

Out of 11 posts, there is one "gate" post and one "you are xxxing it wrong" post.
I wonder how this compares to the average thread.

I'm not sure, but the company overall does seem snappier.

 

[prowlmedia]

That would never have happened when Steve Jobs was still alive

Some people really are idiots and boring.

 

[shenan1982]

Building a new HQ is often seen as a curse in business circles. I don't know if it's because it's a distraction from the core business, or plain bad luck, but it's often linked to downturns at the companies building them.
http://www.businessinsider.com/poorly-timed-headquarters-2009-11?op=1

A project this big is bound to be delayed and thus this news isn't particularly worrisome, but it's worth keeping an eye on.

Funny the first thing I thought of was Best Buy when I read this article. When they were having good years, they thought those good years would last forever so they build a huge campus in Bloomington, MN .... 10x the size they needed as two twin office mid-rises. They built it to the 9s, and had all sorts of cool amenities. They never grew past 50% utilization of the space, and one building sat a ghost for years. Not sure why companies waste so much money and effort on office space. Especially designs where efficiency isn't at the forefront. Mac computers are function and style together, and you can skew that one way or the other and the product still has great appeal, but that doesn't turn out well when the same design principal is applied to an office building, LOL.

 

[goobot]

Funny the first thing I thought of was Best Buy when I read this article. When they were having good years, they thought those good years would last forever so they build a huge campus in Bloomington, MN .... 10x the size they needed as two twin office mid-rises. They built it to the 9s, and had all sorts of cool amenities. They never grew past 50% utilization of the space, and one building sat a ghost for years. Not sure why companies waste so much money and effort on office space. Especially designs where efficiency isn't at the forefront. Mac computers are function and style together, and you can skew that one way or the other and the product still has great appeal, but that doesn't turn out well when the same design principal is applied to an office building, LOL.

I guess it's better to build big and not use rather than to build small and regretting it. Of course you don't want to build too big either.

 

[Glideslope]

Yeah steve called for some much finer tolerances than usual if i remember right so its not going to be an easy job at all.

Yea, sure would be nice to see those tolerances in todays products.

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I worked for R&S when they built the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Very well run, meticulous company. We did all kinds of first of kind things on that project.

Good then. Tim will simply need to spend the money !!

 

[jdechko]

"Radius walls?" Please, it's just another day for the guys on the job site. No big deal except that it costs more and takes longer, all of which is allowed for by the estimators quoting the job.

It's only difficult if you want a tighter radius than what the gypsum will allow. The new segmented tracks make installing radiused walls much easier.

Course, I get to be the ******* who draws them. Installation isn't my problem.

 

[blackhand1001]

Would have been much smarter to come up with both a much more space efficient design which would have also been more cost efficient as well. Not surprising that they are going through more than one contractor. The contractors will probably end up eating a lot of the costs due to unexpected cost overruns that plague designs like this.

This reminds me of the two different philosophies between the first generation Moto X and the iphone 6. Both phones with the same exact size screen. The Motorola is not as thin but its much easier to hold because of the shape of it and also has a much larger battery. Apple decided instead to go for thin at any cost and therefore had to pancake the design to fit everything giving it a substantially larger footprint and a design that isn't very ergonomic.

 

[unplugme71]

Yeah, they have been a bit tight on money recently...

Yeah, apparently when I returned my MBP, Apple sent me a letter asking why the return as it would take away funds from the campus build-out.

/sarcasm

 

[jayducharme]

Yeah, they have been a bit tight on money recently...

Right. The $5 billion campus is currently about 3% of their cash reserves. I don't think they'll be in financial trouble if they run a bit over budget.

 

[pubwvj]

Not sure why companies waste so much money and effort on office space. Especially designs where efficiency isn't at the forefront.

Because they have dreams.
Because they have hopes.
Because they are optimists.
Because they are visionary.

These are all things you may lack as a drone but realize that for a company with over a hundred billion dollars in the bank $5B is pocket change and frankly, given how long they have been doing well, I think Apple is going to be around for a long time to come.

I expect there to be multiple contractors for such a big project. It makes sense for there to be separate structural and finish experts.

It's a beautiful campus. I enjoy seeing the progress.

 

[C DM]

Yeah, they have been a bit tight on money recently...

Which means they shouldn't do rational things to save money where it makes sense? Not sure how the two are related really.

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The construction industry is so wasteful in terms of actual productive man-hours. How many times do you drive by a building or road construction and see workers standing around talking, while being paid $30-40 an hour? Get back to work!

Sometimes it's that, sometimes there's more to it.

 

[japanime]

Wait a minute. I watch HBO's "Silicon Valley," and I was under the impression that the construction of the spaceship campus was already done. See, there it is, in the lower-right corner!

 

[C DM]

Wait a minute. I watch HBO's "Silicon Valley," and I was under the impression that the construction of the spaceship campus was already done. See, there it is, in the lower-right corner!

Image

Along with a fictional company "hooli" being there, and Yahoo! being located next to Oracle.

 

[dampfnudel]

Building a new HQ is often seen as a curse in business circles. I don't know if it's because it's a distraction from the core business, or plain bad luck, but it's often linked to downturns at the companies building them.
http://www.businessinsider.com/poorly-timed-headquarters-2009-11?op=1

A project this big is bound to be delayed and thus this news isn't particularly worrisome, but it's worth keeping an eye on.

Well, let's hope Apple doesn't suffer the new, grander HQ curse that a bunch of other companies have experienced in the past 15 years.

 

[shenan1982]

These are all things you may lack as a drone but realize that for a company with over a hundred billion dollars in the bank $5B is pocket change and frankly, given how long they have been doing well, I think Apple is going to be around for a long time to come.

I think people said that about RadioShack, and Best Buy, and TWA, Pan Am, Texaco, Worldcom, Enron, Kmart, Adelphia, Hummer, Lehman Brothers... I needn't go on. Just because you like a company and their product doesn't make them a company that'll be around forever.... and especially in the same state. Apple is NOT a lean company. In fact, they're very bloated compared to similarly sized organizations.

They have cash in the bank today, they sold a lot of iPads.. but consumers aren't buying iPads anymore. iPhone is a hit today, but electronics consumers are the first to jump ship to the next new thing, so they have to be careful. If they pull the garbage they did with the launch of Watch and Macbook with the new iPhone, they're going to be in a world of hurt.

A billion dollars in the bank doesn't last a company of Apple's size long if sales dry up. Not saying they're going anywhere, I just think you're overconfident in their future.

 

[C DM]

I think people said that about RadioShack, and Best Buy, and TWA, Pan Am, Texaco, Worldcom, Enron, Kmart, Adelphia, Hummer, Lehman Brothers... I needn't go on. Just because you like a company and their product doesn't make them a company that'll be around forever.... and especially in the same state. Apple is NOT a lean company. In fact, they're very bloated compared to similarly sized organizations.

They have cash in the bank today, they sold a lot of iPads.. but consumers aren't buying iPads anymore. iPhone is a hit today, but electronics consumers are the first to jump ship to the next new thing, so they have to be careful. If they pull the garbage they did with the launch of Watch and Macbook with the new iPhone, they're going to be in a world of hurt.

A billion dollars in the bank doesn't last a company of Apple's size long if sales dry up. Not saying they're going anywhere, I just think you're overconfident in their future.

While I agree that things don't necessarily last just because and that nothing can be predicted, what they "pulled" with the last iPhone or Apple Watch seems to be resulting in some pretty crazy sales and some really good profit for Apple...so seems like "pulling" those kinds of things works fairly well.

 

[wilhoitm]

I think people said that about RadioShack, and Best Buy, and TWA, Pan Am, Texaco, Worldcom, Enron, Kmart, Adelphia, Hummer, Lehman Brothers... I needn't go on. Just because you like a company and their product doesn't make them a company that'll be around forever.... and especially in the same state. Apple is NOT a lean company. In fact, they're very bloated compared to similarly sized organizations.

They have cash in the bank today, they sold a lot of iPads.. but consumers aren't buying iPads anymore. iPhone is a hit today, but electronics consumers are the first to jump ship to the next new thing, so they have to be careful. If they pull the garbage they did with the launch of Watch and Macbook with the new iPhone, they're going to be in a world of hurt.

A billion dollars in the bank doesn't last a company of Apple's size long if sales dry up. Not saying they're going anywhere, I just think you're overconfident in their future.

Didn't the Space Shuttle cost 14 Billion to develop! Maybe the Apple campus really is a real Space Ship?

 

[shenan1982]

While I agree that things don't necessarily last just because and that nothing can be predicted, what they "pulled" with the last iPhone or Apple Watch seems to be resulting in some pretty crazy sales and some really good profit for Apple...so seems like "pulling" those kinds of things works fairly well.

Go into a store and buy a Macbook or Watch. Oh wait, you can't. They don't sell either in stores. See how well that model lasts long-term for their brand perception. Apple Retail is what differentiates Apple from HP or Dell in support.

 

[Gdgtguru]

Which means they shouldn't do rational things to save money where it makes sense? Not sure how the two are related really.

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Sometimes it's that, sometimes there's more to it.

It's called sarcasm dude, relax. Besides, splitting it up into 2 phases likely only spreads out the spending rather than saves it.

 

[shenan1982]

Didn't the Space Shuttle cost 14 Billion to develop! Maybe the Apple campus really is a real Space Ship?

Hopefully they can launch a test rocket out of this world and use Angela Ahrendts as their first test dummy.

 

[flat five]

It's only difficult if you want a tighter radius than what the gypsum will allow. The new segmented tracks make installing radiused walls much easier.

i don't think there will be a problem with tight bends.. the thing is massive.

521'-6 inner radius

http://www.archdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/1313265240-floorplan-cross-section-7.jpeg

 

[C DM]

It's called sarcasm dude, relax. Besides, splitting it up into 2 phases likely only spreads out the spending rather than saves it.

I'm perfectly relaxed. But sarcasm doesn't just fly off the page on its own.

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Go into a store and buy a Macbook or Watch. Oh wait, you can't. They don't sell either in stores. See how well that model lasts long-term for their brand perception. Apple Retail is what differentiates Apple from HP or Dell in support.

Quite a bit more separates Apple from HP or Dell or many other places. So despite changes in how things are sold initially it seems like sales are through the roof and people are still just fine with it all. So, so far, it doesn't seem like there's much to indicate some sort of a noticeable (long lasting or really otherwise) negative effect on the brand or anything like that.