Apple Park | Design, History, Layout (2024)

Apple calls Cupertino, California home, and its main headquarters had been located at 1 Infinite Loop since 1993. In 2017, the company finished construction and officially moved its employees into the massive "spaceship" campus, called The Ring, located at One Apple Park Way.

A good look at the empty Apple Park campus during a disease outbreak

The campus is surrounded by grass and trees, has an orchard in the center of the ring, and contains energy and design innovations throughout. Apple Park is the beacon of creativity and unity meant to drive Apple into the future.

Life at Apple's new campus was short-lived, however, since the COVID-19 pandemic drove most employees to work from home. Despite being able to hold thousands of employees, only a tiny fraction were able to work on-site from March 2020.

The design team at Apple benefits from in-person work. Image source: Wallpaper*

After multiple delays due to the pandemic, Apple was finally able to begin bringing employees back to its campus in April 2022. The move back was slow and highly contested by several employees who wished to work from home, but Apple won out in the end.

Early Development and Construction

The late CEO and co-founder Steve Jobssaw the rapid growth of the company and knew its current campus couldn't last. So, Apple purchased land formerly owned by Hewlett-Packard, a company important to Jobs' history as he worked there as a summer intern.

Steve Jobs personally presented an ambitious plan to the Cupertino City Council for building one of the largest office buildings in the world.

Apple met many of its initial goals within its first presentation of the campus, although it took two years longer and went well over cost estimates. Sadly, Steve Jobs died only a few months after that meeting, and it is known as one of his last public appearances. The campus theater is named after him in remembrance.

In 2014, Apple began the initial tear-down of the old Hewlett-Packard buildings and broke ground. The project took a little over three years to get finalized and ready for the employee move-in.

Throughout the construction process, Apple faced several challenges from buying up all the available trees to city taxes coming into question.

Final Design and Jony Ive

Jony Ive’s attention to detail is felt through the campus

Jony Ive was the Chief Design Officer at Apple, and he has since left the company to start his own design firm. While Apple Park was under construction, Ive stepped away from leading the product design team to take a more personal interest in the construction and design of the new campus.

Ive worked closely with the design firm Foster+Partners on this massive undertaking. His design influences are seen throughout the campus, and he speaks of Apple Park in this interviewwith Wallpaper* magazine.

"As a design team our goal has been, in some ways, to get design out of the way," Ive said. "We try to define a solution that seems so inevitable that it does recede." He stated this referring to the philosophy that is behind everything Apple designs.

Even the stairs received such scrutiny. "There are so many connections between floors," he continued. "There are light wells that go all the way down. You have visual connections to the floors and connections by the stairs."

Not even the stairs could escape Jony Ive’s influence

When discussing the building's flexibility, Ive states, "Our building is very configurable and you can very quickly create large open spaces or you can configure lots of smaller private offices. The building will change and it will evolve."

The idea that the building could change as Apple changes was the driving factor behind much of the design.

The Ring

Shaped like a large flying saucer of sorts, Apple calls the main campus building The Ring. This massive building features 800 45-foot-tall rounded glass panels that connect all the way around the four-story structure. Some of these panels function as large sliding doors, allowing for the interior to be exposed to the outdoors during nice weather.

The main building is called 'The Ring'

The Ring usesbase isolation to protect against earthquakes. The isolation system consists of 692 large steel saucers located two stories underground.This system is a modified version of Japan's and will protect the campus from all but the most severe earthquakes.

The Ring's interior hosts large rooms with glass walls and entryways, including wide-open spaces that can be collapsed into smaller sections as needed. The Ring is divided into eight identical segments and surrounded by a hallway roughly three-quarters of a mile around.

The wide, brightly lit hallway runs around The Ring

The Ring uses natural ventilation to aid in making it the greenest office building in the world, requiring no heating or cooling for nine months out of the year. To further its green initiatives, Apple partnered with First Solarto provide 130MW of clean energy to the campus and surrounding buildings.

Design rules the campus from top to bottom and will influence the company moving forward. Many consider Apple Park to be an Apple product designed by Jony Ive, his crown jewel before exiting the company and gift to his departed friend Steve Jobs.

Other structures at Apple Park

Steve Jobs Theater

The Steve Jobs Theater is a 165-foot diameter circular glass building without visible supports. The carbon-fiber roof is the largest in the world, weighing 80 tons. Underneath the glass structure, underground, is an auditorium seating 1,000 people. The theater won the'Structural Artistry'award in 2018.

Steve Jobs Theater overlooks Apple Park

Apple intended the theater for product reveals and events, but that intention was short-lived due to the pandemic. With the company moving to a more online event style, it seems the theater will be used for pre-recorded event showings rather than a live stage.

Visitors' Center

The Apple ParkVisitor Centeroverlooks the campus and is divided into four sections: a 10,000-square-foot Apple Store, a 2,000-square-foot cafe, an observation deck, and an area for an AR experience. The augmented reality area is a scale model of Apple Park that lets you view the campus via an iPad using AR software.

The Apple Park Visitor's Center doubles as an Apple Store

This is the only publicly accessible area of Apple Park. Apple sells limited-edition t-shirts and other merchandise at this store.

Glendenning Barn

The Glendenning Barn is a historical landmark moved and restored by Apple during Apple Park's construction. It was originally a part of the farmland that housed apricot, prune, and cherry orchards.

It is now used for simply storing groundskeeping tools but still stands as a symbol of community and innovation at Apple Park.

Virtual Keynotes

The Apple Park campus was meant to be the ultimate workspace for its thousands of employees. It was also meant to be a marvel that visitors could enjoy when conducting work or traveling for keynotes. The COVID-19 pandemic made this impossible for months, but Apple made due.

Apple Park viewed in Apple Maps

Starting with WWDC 2020, Apple held virtual conferences instead of inviting thousands of people to its campus. This allowed the company to expand its reach to more developers and consumers with highly-produced videos rather than a stage performance.

Apple invited people to participate in an in-person WWDC event in June 2022. A pre-recorded keynote was shown to viewers outdoors via a projector set up outside the cafeteria, then developers were able to interact with employees and visit the newly opened Developer Center.

This mixed in-person and online style will likely be used for events going forward. They give Apple greater control over product presentation while keeping the campus open for events.

The iPhone 14 lineup was revealed at an in-person Apple event held in the Steve Jobs Theater at Apple Park in September 2022. A pre-recorded keynote was shown, but products were viewable in person in a display area afterward.

Apple Park | Design, History, Layout (2024)

FAQs

Who was Apple Park designed by? ›

What is the structure system of Apple Park? ›

The office building has an outside diameter of 1,532 feet with a ring width of 180 feet. The ring is divided into 104 identical radial office segments, grouped into nine (9) independent 4-story wedge shaped structures that all sit on one continuous 2-story below grade structure.

What was there before Apple Park? ›

Apple's Old HQ (1 Infinite Loop)

Apple's classic headquarters in Cupertino, before Apple Park was built. This is where Steve Jobs ran Apple from 1997 to 2011. Apple's old headquarters are located in Cupertino, very close to Apple's first-ever offices on Bandley Drive.

How long did Apple Park take to build? ›

Apple Park, the company's second campus, is a massive ring-shaped building that took four years to build and cost over $5 billion ($5,000,000,000) (the land cost was estimated at US$160 million). It was first proposed by the late CEO Steve Jobs in 2006 and it is one of the most expensive buildings in the world.

Did Jony Ive design Apple Park? ›

He was responsible for the design of major architectural projects including Apple Park and Apple Stores. Born in London, Ive lived there until his family moved to Stafford when he was 12.

Is Apple Park a sustainable building? ›

The campus is powered by 100% renewable energy, and is the largest LEED Platinum-certified office building in North America. The 71-hectare (175-acre) site was previously dominated by impervious surfaces.

What structure does Apple use? ›

With a hierarchical structure, Apple emphasizes control and efficiency while also grouping its operations based on products and fostering collaboration. The functional structure allows for prioritization of long-term goals and rewards R&D executives based on overall company performance.

Does Apple still use one infinite loop? ›

The Apple Campus is the former corporate headquarters of Apple Inc. from 1993 until 2017. In April 2017, it was largely replaced by Apple Park, but is still an Apple office and lab space. The campus is located at 1 Infinite Loop in Cupertino, California, United States.

What is the rainbow thing in Apple Park? ›

Our goal was to create a stage that would become immediately recognizable as the Apple Stage. The idea for the rainbow was one of those rare occasions where the earliest thoughts worked on a number of different fronts. There is the resonance with the rainbow logo that's been part of our identity for many years.

Can the public go inside Apple Park? ›

The visitor center is the only place the public is allowed on the campus without a pass, and it's free to enter. You can buy exclusive Apple merch there. There are Apple Park T-shirts and other accessories you can't get anywhere else.

Is Apple Park earthquake proof? ›

The isolation system consists of 692 large steel saucers located two stories underground. This system is a modified version used in Japan and protects the campus from all but the most severe earthquakes.

Who designed Apple Park? ›

The idea for a new headquarters was conceived by Jobs and Apple's then chief designer Jony Ive. Ive was Apple's immediate choice to design the project, going on to work very closely together with Norman Foster across five years, designing every detail, from the glass panels to the elevator buttons.

What is Apple Park nickname? ›

It was opened to employees in April 2017. It replaced the original headquarters at 1 Infinite Loop, which opened in 1993. Norman Foster designed the main building. Its nickname is "the spaceship".

Why does Apple use Cupertino? ›

Cupertino was the city chosen because Apple's headquarters are located in Cupertino, California, and Steve Jobs was quoted as saying that the weather in Cupertino is always perfect. Additionally, the default option for Pacific Standard Time is Cupertino.

Who designed Apple Michigan Avenue? ›

Foster + Partners designed Apple Michigan Avenue to replace the company's first flagship, which was built on North Michigan Avenue in 2003.

How much is Apple Park worth? ›

Apple Park's massive, $5 billion headquarters is located in Cupertino, California. The campus includes the famous ring-shaped main building, a fitness center, a theater, and more. Besides a visitor center and gift shop, Apple Park is closed to the public.

Is it possible to visit Apple Park? ›

Apple Park has created a special place just for visitors. An architectural extension of the private campus, the Apple Park Visitor Center offers guests a place to learn, explore, shop, and more.

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