A giant company has managed to build a building similar to an alien spacecraft. However, they call this spaceship. It is located on a large piece of land in Cupertino, California, USA. They spent $ 160 million to buy this land alone. Now you know it is about Apple Headquarters.
#1. $ 5.5 Million Worth Building
Because the land is in a natural forest area, they spent a large sum of money and tried hard to keep it as a forest. We all know the devastation that happens when you build a giant building in the middle of a forest. So that strange building was built with a large space in the middle. There is a large ring-like circular building designed to encircle that central section. When completed in 2017, the total cost of the building was $ 5.5 million.
#2. Who Spent $ 5.5 Million for a Building?
You may have wondered what company could spend so much money to build a building like this. But when you ask the name of this company, you will not be surprised. The world-famous Apple Headquarters was able to do this impressive feat. The building was the result of an attempt by former chief Steve Jobs to make his headquarters a more attractive and scenic location. But for a huge company like Apple, this amount is small. The company with a market turnover of over $ 1 trillion in 2018 is now it’s worth more than $ 2 trillion.
#3. Environmental Friendliness
However, there are many reasons why it costs so much to build a building. Foremost among these is Apple’s decision to make the environment more environmentally friendly. The headquarter buildings of most companies in the world are usually built in sixty or seventy-story high buildings. These buildings are called a skyscraper. But when such a huge building is created in a natural environment, the balance of that environment is destroyed. The main reason for this is that the foundations are deep in a tall building.
So Apple planned to build it four stories high over a large area. It was designed as a very long building that extends through the forest to minimize damage to the environment. As a result, the Spaceship building is spread over a vast area of about 50 acres. But only parts of the building are located in a thin ring. It allows trees to grow freely in the yard as well as outside.
This area gets good sunshine throughout the year and has been experiencing droughts from time to time in recent times. So Apple company planted more than 9,000 drought-tolerant trees to minimize the damage. It contains many species of trees such as cherry and olive. They also planted a variety of apple trees to live up to the company’s name.
#4. Size of the Apple Headquarters
The spaceship building is so large that it is about a mile in circumference. It is exactly like a circle and has a diameter of 461 meters (1512 feet). So you can hide a giant blue whale in the Apple headquarters since the average adult blue whale is about 95 feet long. Apple has set up a park in the center of the building, which will not harm the small 30-acre jungle. There is 3.2 km of walking and cycling trails. A large natural pond is also there. Many species of animals live in this small forest, including birds, small mammals, insects, and amphibians.
There are employs over 12,000 in the Apple headquarter. Therefore it usually requires a massive road network to accommodate such large crowds so that traffic does not waste time. But Apple managed to create them all underground so as not to harm the natural environment. This building can access through a tunnel entrance far away. Not only that, this spaceship building is designed to be as eco-friendly as possible.
#5. Electric Power Generation & Consumption of the Apple Headquarters
The spaceship building was designed to supply more than 75% of its electricity needs from its solar panels. Its roof is completely covered with high-efficiency solar panels. When exposed to good sunlight, panels produce about 17 MW of electricity. It is also considered to be the largest solar panel roof in a single building in the world. While designing the spaceship building, Apple also made a great effort to make it as energy-efficient as possible.
Although very common now, you may remember that the LED bulbs that were being built around 2015 were expensive. But Apple spent a lot of extra money to install only LED bulbs in the whole building. Also, the building looks like a thin ring, and almost all of its sidewalls cover with glass. So they can take advantage of the sunlight for most of the day. They have generators powered by fuel cell technology that can use at night. They run entirely on biofuels or natural gas.
#6. Massive Glass Panels in Apple Headquarters
The spaceship building is surrounded by 800 massive glass panels arranged in a 45-foot-high circle. In addition to allocating space inside and for smaller spaces, another 3000 large glass panels were used. So during the day, they do not need electricity at all. Compared to a large building like this located in a hot area, the spaceship’s air conditioning requires very little electricity. The air vents on each floor are designed to allow natural winds to blow freely. It does not need AC for nine months of the year.
#7. Internal Arrangements
As one of the most advanced technology companies in the world, the headquarters of Apple has unique features. In addition to comfortable offices for all professionals, it has seven large restaurants. They can feed 15,000 people at a time. It also includes a 100,000 sq. ft. fitness center, two 300,000 sq. ft. research centers, and a massive medical clinic. Everywhere you look today, the tide of protectionist sentiment is flowing. The large auditorium, named after former chief Steve Jobs, is another highlight. A thousand can easily sit. It has an 80-ton carbon-fiber roof, and it is made entirely of glass panels with 360-degree surroundings. It was the largest carbon-fiber roof in the world and the largest glass building in the world.
At 42 feet, it is home to the world’s largest glass elevator. So made with such a large amount of glass, there is no problem with their strength. California is an earthquake-prone area, so it is designed to withstand earthquakes easily. Although the building is a continuous circle, the massive forest is divided into several sections using 692 sheets. During an earthquake, the entire building can move about four feet in any direction. As a result, large sections of the building are less likely to collapse or cause damage to surrounding areas.
So the spaceship building at the Apple headquarters can consider as one of the most unique workplaces in the world. This company shows how it differs from other companies as well as their products.
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