Futuristic Apple Park Headquarters to finally open in April

It’s been six years in the making, but Apple have finally announced that their new $5 billion headquarters are set to open in April. Due to its appearance, the building has been dubbed ‘the spaceship’ and certain areas will be open to the public.

The 175  acre campus situated in the Santa Clara valley will house over 14,000 Apple employees, two miles of running and walking paths, a café, a visitor centre and a theatre named after the company’s late founder Steve Jobs who began his vision for the campus back in 2011.  Jobs said that he wanted the building to be “the best office in the world” and envisioned a headquarters that would be a beacon of inspiration, innovation and ultimately a place for the company to continue to release ground-breaking products.

Jobs also said that he wanted architecture students to visit the building to gain inspiration and the design of the building is certainly nothing short of spectacular. The 2.8 million square foot, ring-shaped building is made from the world’s biggest curved glass panels. The 1,000 seat auditorium includes an entrance hall and a 20-foot tall glass cylinder with a metallic carbon fiber roof which will sit on top of a hill making it the highest point on the campus.

The 17-megawatt rooftop solar installation on the site will be one of the largest in the world and Apple have stated that the building itself will be the world’s largest naturally ventilated, requiring no air-conditioning or heating at any time of the year. Employees on the site will have access to a 100,00 square foot gym or keep fit using the two miles of walking and running paths that are outlined with 9,000 trees. The visitor centre, café and on-site Apple store will be the only areas available to the public which, considering the infamous secrecy of the company, is rather a lot.

“Steve’s vision for Apple stretched far beyond his time with us. He intended Apple Park to be the home of innovation for generations to come,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “The workspaces and parklands are designed to inspire our team as well as benefit the environment. We’ve achieved one of the most energy-efficient buildings in the world and the campus will run entirely on renewable energy.”