Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) still has quite a long way to go in terms of building the second headquarter center, but fans can now catch a glimpse of the progress being made thanks to video footage from a drone.
Apple working on second campus
The aerial footage shows the building is a circular structure that matches the ‘spaceship’ comparisons. This building will house 13,000 employees. The actual structure will feature 360-degree curved glass. Inside it will feature 300,000 square-feet of research space and a 1,000 seat auditorium.
Apple’s new campus will also be powered by greener resources including solar panels and natural gas. The local energy grid would be used only in emergencies. Perhaps the most notable thing about this campus is all the trees surrounding it. There are over 7,000 trees including cherry, apple, olive, and apricot trees. Cars are parked in an underground parking lot.
The inspiration behind the design
Sir Norman Foster (chief architect) explained in a more recent interview with Architechtural Record offered insight behind the building’s design. He explained the reference point for the late Steve Jobs was primarily the large Stanford campus space (also known as the main quad). The former CEO would often think back to the days of his youth and when the state of California was still inundated with fruit trees.
Although Jobs would never live to see his dream built, the company’s designer Jony Ive joined forces with Foster to get the campus approved and built.
The drone used for capturing the construction is a DJI Phantom 2 drone. The drone’s operator kept the drone under 400 feet as within California law. Prior to the recent drone footage, there were previous glimpses of the new campus taken and shared with Apple Toolbox. The campus should be completed by 2016. This will help the company and allow employees to spread out for more efficiency.
