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Steve Jobs Presents His Ideas For A New Apple Campus

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31–40 of 221 posts

Re: Steve Jobs Presents His Ideas For A New Apple Campus

#31

When I saw the photos, I figured that the building's circumference would be so wide that curved glass would not just be unnecessary, but almost counter-productive, as it's difficult to curve glass without imperfections that might ruin its reflections. Surely we'd be talking about small fractions of a degree per pane. Can anyone estimate what the building circumference is, and therefore what amount of curve would be c…

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Re: Steve Jobs Presents His Ideas For A New Apple Campus

#32
post #25

I find it extremely interesting that they'll be using natural gas as their primary energy source for the campus and using the electrical grid as their backup. Is this really cost effective? Are many businesses doing this?

I wonder if it is that bloom energy system...

Re: Steve Jobs Presents His Ideas For A New Apple Campus

#33

When I saw the photos, I figured that the building's circumference would be so wide that curved glass would not just be unnecessary, but almost counter-productive, as it's difficult to curve glass without imperfections that might ruin its reflections. Surely we'd be talking about small fractions of a degree per pane. Can anyone estimate what the building circumference is, and therefore what amount of curve would be c…

Based on the presentation and the handy ruler in Google maps, I'd estimate it to be about 400 meters in diameter. So around 1250 meters circumference. The curve is the same as the arc, so with 60 panes of glass about 21 meters long there's a six degree curve per pane.

Re: Steve Jobs Presents His Ideas For A New Apple Campus

#34
When I saw that aerial three-quarter image of the building, I started to imagine crossing from one side of the campus to the other via that inner garden. Somehow the burning man city layout popped into my head, along with memories of crossing the vast open middle on foot (not recommended. Only attempted a bicycle-free year once).

Re: Steve Jobs Presents His Ideas For A New Apple Campus

#35

When I saw the photos, I figured that the building's circumference would be so wide that curved glass would not just be unnecessary, but almost counter-productive, as it's difficult to curve glass without imperfections that might ruin its reflections. Surely we'd be talking about small fractions of a degree per pane. Can anyone estimate what the building circumference is, and therefore what amount of curve would be c…

Just looking at the proposed plans and comparing to Google Maps, I'd give a rough guestimate of 1100 ft for the building's diameter. So, that's about 3450 ft in circumference. That means a single degree of arc would cover about 960 ft. If each pane of glass were 10x48 and flat (as long as the building is tall), then they would form a 7200-sided polygon, and the angle between them would be 179.95 degrees, or a deflection of 0.05 degrees. So, while they claim a curved window, you wouldn't notice if it was flat. Unless, of course, my math is horribly misguided.

Edit: well somebody didn't like that. Anyway, I can't speak for the math, but my source for the diameter guestimate: The building site shown at [1], and the same site on Google maps [2]. Notice the scale in the bottom, showing 1000 ft. The building plan appears slightly larger than that, so that's where I got my estimate.

[1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtuz5OmOh_M&feature=playe...

[2] http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&...

Re: Steve Jobs Presents His Ideas For A New Apple Campus

#36
post #27

I wonder how it is structured inside. 12,000 people still seems like a lot for that building. Does anybody know how Apple employees are typically structured? Is it offices for everybody? Open spaces with collaborative work spaces?

Typically every engineer has his own office, if space is tight some need to double up until new offices become available.

Re: Steve Jobs Presents His Ideas For A New Apple Campus

#38

Apple style - one monolithic building designed down to the square foot. Google style - a motley assortment of buildings spread out over a large campus, some of which are better than others.

I have to ask - what is Microsoft style?

Edit: Disclosure, I have been to Microsoft's campus, but I just couldn't help but ask this question. :)

Re: Steve Jobs Presents His Ideas For A New Apple Campus

#39

Apple style - one monolithic building designed down to the square foot. Google style - a motley assortment of buildings spread out over a large campus, some of which are better than others.

I have to ask - what is Microsoft style? Edit: Disclosure, I have been to Microsoft's campus, but I just couldn't help but ask this question. :)

Same as Google style I guess (though I think Microsoft buildings are quite uniform and almost all look the same)

Re: Steve Jobs Presents His Ideas For A New Apple Campus

#40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They haven't built the new one yet; they could always make it bigger. Even simply thickening it would likely add a ton of space.

It would also darken the building and require more artificial light, which it seems they're trying to avoid.

They could always use skylight tubes [1]

Or, if they really wanted to go green... [2]

[1] http://www.solatube.com/commercial/index.php

[2] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zMAWztZ6TI

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