Inside Apple's $5 Billion Headquarters

In 2017, construction of Apple's new

headquarters

, called Apple Park, was finally completed. It took four years to build and cost Apple more than $5

billion

. That makes it one of the most expensive buildings in the world. And many people have wondered what exactly Apple got for its money. So in this video we'll take a look inside Apple Park and discover the buildings and facilities that make the venue so special. This is Greg with Apple explained. This topic came in second place in the last voting poll and if you didn't get a chance to vote, make sure you're subscribed so future polls start appearing in your mobile activity feed.

Alright, let's start with the main building on Apple's campus, which is officially called "The Ring." It has four floors of office space for more than 12,000 employees. A walkway runs along the inside and outside perimeter of the building, meaning it would take about 7 and a half minutes to get to the opposite side, or about 15 minutes to go all the way around. But you may not mind the long hike, considering the view you would have while doing it. The exterior of the Ring is made up of curved glass panels 36 to 47 feet long. Resulting in an open and perfect panoramic view of the outside landscape.

In fact, Apple Park was designed to be as open as possible in order to encourage the free flow of ideas through chance encounters between employees. That's why office spaces are formed into clusters, or open office spaces where a worker can be deeply focused one minute and then bump into a colleague the next. But not everyone was enthusiastic about this approach. Many employees wrote to tech journalist John Gruber criticizing the open floor plan. Even more complained about the glass walls and doors, which were easy to bump into when distracted. In fact, two workers were injured and required hospitalization after crashing into the building's translucent walls and doors.

This led employees to stick sticky notes on the glass to make obstacles more noticeable, but they were quickly removed because they detracted from the building's design. Another way The Ring encourages employee interaction is with one large restaurant instead of several small restaurants located throughout the building. That means employees have to walk further to get to the cafe and increases the likelihood of interactions while eating as everyone is forced to enter the same 58,000-square-foot eating area. The restaurant itself is called Caffe Macs and features four-story sliding glass doors, the largest in the world, that open to the patio on nice days.

And to show how much Apple cares about every detail, they patented their own pizza box that prevents the crust from getting soggy. But there's more to The Ring than meets the eye, because hidden beneath the four-story behemoth is a two-story parking garage finished with reflective white tiles, vaulted ceilings, and traffic lights seamlessly integrated into street signs. This allows workers to enter and exit Apple Park without obstructing the beautiful view. Speaking of which, Apple Park's landscaping is one of its most important features. Jobs loved the foliage work done on the Stanford campus and tracked down one of the arborists responsible: David Muffly.

Who oversaw the planting of 9,000 native trees in Apple Park. Hand-selected not only for their attractive structure, but also for their drought resistance, which has become increasingly common. The patio area is mainly made up of apricot, olive and

apple

orchards, plus a herb garden near the cafe. But there's more than just foliage. Apple added an artificial pond which, like The Ring Building, also happens to be a perfect circle, there is also a rectangular field with a rainbow structure that actually serves as a stage for speakers or presentations. The set was actually co-designed by Jonathan Ive and Foster and Partners.

It uses the same rainbow colors as Apple's first logo and features rounded arches that can be equipped with lighting equipment. But it's important to note that The Ring is just one of several buildings in Apple Park. If you travel to the northwest area, which you can reach using one of Apple's gray bicycles, you will find a building that may look a little out of place. It's called Glendenning Barn and was not part of Apple's original plans. The barn was built in 1916 and happened to be on the land that Apple bought for its new

headquarters

. They wanted to tear it down completely, but it had already been declared a historic site in 2004 by the city of Cupertino.

So after some discussion, Apple agreed to keep the barn and use it to store maintenance tools and other gardening materials. Next to Glendenning Barn is a much larger building that was part of Apple's plans. It is a 100,000 square foot fitness and wellness center. Complete with locker rooms, showers, laundry services, group exercise rooms, and a two-story stone-covered yoga room. But not just any stone. Jobs made sure it came from a specific Kansas quarry and carefully weathered it to look like the stone from his favorite hotel in Yosemite. Going further south, you will find the sports fields. Where workers can enjoy a game of basketball or tennis.

And even further south is the central plant of Apple Park, which is attached to the south parking lot. The central plant houses utility equipment such as fuel cells, backup generators, chillers, condenser water storage, hot water storage, an electrical substation, and water and fire pumps. While parking allows for an additional 9,000 spaces for workers, for a total of 14,200 parking spaces at Apple Park. Heading east from the south garage, you'll find my favorite building, the Steve Jobs Theater. It is a circular building made up of curved glass panels, topped with the largest carbon fiber roof in the world. There are so many amazing details about this building that I'll probably make an entire video dedicated to it, so make sure you're subscribed to watch it.

But to put it simply, the glass panels actually act as support beams for the roof, so no columns or beams are needed. And if you're wondering where the actual theater is, it's all underground. You can reach the theater by taking the beautifully designed curved staircase or entering a glass elevator that rotates slowly as it descends, allowing it to have just one door instead of two. The theater itself seats 921, about three times as many as the old Apple City Hall, although it retains a faux feel. And although much of the Steve Jobs Theater is underground, it was located on the highest slope in all of Apple Park.

As a symbolic gesture of respect towards the man who bears his name. Towards the northeast from the theater is the Visitor Center. Which is the only part of Apple Park open to the public. It is a two-story building with four main areas: an Apple store offering exclusive products such as T-shirts, hats, bags and postcards, a 2,300-square-foot cafe, an exhibition area featuring a 3D model of Apple Park that visitors can explore in detail using augmented reality and a rooftop terrace overlooking the entire campus. The Visitor Center also has an underground car park with almost 700 spaces. Now this five

billion

dollar headquarters has received its fair share of criticism for being too extravagant and its construction too perfectionist.

But I think those words describe precisely the kind of campus Steve Jobs wanted for Apple. In the words of Tim Cook, “Steve's vision is reflected around us at Apple Park. He would have loved to be here, in this place he dreamed of: the home and inspiration for Apple's future innovations.” Alright guys, I hope you enjoyed that peak inside Apple Park, don't forget to subscribe for a more in-depth video about the Steve Jobs Theater to help decide what topics I cover, and I'll see you in the next video.