Apple's huge new campus will open in April and hold thousands of people
The building's theatre will be named after Steve Jobs, who had the vision for the sprawling park
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Your support makes all the difference.Apple will soon open the door of its huge new campus, moving thousands of staff into the donut-shaped building.
The campus, which brings to an end years of work, will be christened Apple Park and take up 175 acres in the Santa Clara Valley.
The vision for the campus began in 2011, when Steve Jobs presented plans for the building to the council. In the six years since it has become a fascination of Apple and architecture fans, based on its huge ring-shaped design which is made entirely of the world's biggest glass panels.
As well as hosting 12,000 of Apple's staff, Apple Park will also feature a visitors centre that will include an Apple Store and cafe. It will transform the area around it from an asphalt sprawl into a 100,000 square-foot fitness centre and green spaces that will include two miles of wakling and running paths, and an orchard, meadow and pond inside the hole in the middle of a donut.
The theatre in the building – which opens later this year ad includes an entrance hall made of a 20-foot-tall glass cylinder – will be named after Mr Jobs. The company's co-founder spearheaded the huge park, and those who knew him have said that it represented many of his values.
“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.”
“Steve was exhilarated, and inspired, by the California landscape, by its light and its expansiveness. It was his favourite setting for thought. Apple Park captures his spirit uncannily well,” said Laurene Powell Jobs. “He would have flourished, as the people of Apple surely will, on this luminously designed campus.”
“Steve invested so much of his energy creating and supporting vital, creative environments. We have approached the design, engineering and making of our new campus with the same enthusiasm and design principles that characterise our products,” said Jony Ive, Apple’s chief design officer. “Connecting extraordinarily advanced buildings with rolling parkland creates a wonderfully open environment for people to create, collaborate and work together. We have been extremely fortunate to be able to work closely, over many years, with the remarkable architectural practice Foster + Partners.”
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