The new Apple Park Observatory sits seamlessly nestled into a hillside of the tech giant's renowned Cupertino campus. Unveiled this week, as part of Apple's series of September launches, including iPhone 16, Apple Watch Series 10, and AirPods, the site's latest addition 'provides a new venue to experience Apple Park and showcase Apple’s latest innovations,' the company explains.
Welcome to the Apple Park Observatory
The design features the natural stone, terrazzo and wood elements that make up much of the material identity of the wider campus and many of the Apple stores around the world – some of the most recent openings include one in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and another in London's Battersea Power Station (both designed by Foster + Partners). Foster + Partners worked on the building's early design concept, with Apple’s Global Architecture & Design team alongside Gensler developing it from there.
Open and flowing, the interior was crafted to be a flexible, multifunctional hall for special events and product launches. It sits in the heart of the wider site, next to the ring-shaped main building and Apple Park Visitor Centre, both by Foster + Partners.
The new building, like other Apple structures, uses sustainable architecture elements to ensure biodiversity and an eco-sensitive approach prevail. It was all designed to support Apple Park's aim to 'promote collaboration, communication, health, and wellbeing.'
The entire structure will run on 100 per cent renewable energy. Apple writes of its eco-friendly approach: 'Close to 90 existing trees from the site were temporarily relocated and brought back to preserve the old-growth meadow landscape. All plant species used in the project are drought tolerant, with low water usage, to align with the water-saving goals that Apple Park has set since its inception.'
-
Nothing takes its first step into high-end audio with the new over-ear wireless Headphone (1)Created in partnership with KEF, the Nothing Headphone (1) is designed to shake up the sector and present over-ear audio in a wholly new way
-
In Copenhagen, Charlotte Taylor gave us a glimpse into the mess of real lifeAt 3 Days of Design, Charlotte Taylor staged ‘Home from Home’, a group exhibition in collaboration with Noura Residency, showcasing the chaos of the everyday, from unmade beds to breakfast leftovers
-
Stephen Burks and Malika Leiper transform everyday mats into sculptural seating in SenegalUsing woven plastic mats and zip ties, the New York designers explore local vernacular and creative adaptation at the Albers Foundation’s Thread residency
-
Tour this fire-resilient minimalist weekend retreat in CaliforniaA minimalist weekend retreat was designed as a counterpoint to a San Francisco pied-à-terre; Edmonds + Lee Architects’ Amnesia House in Napa Valley is a place for making memories
-
A New Zealand house on a rugged beach exemplifies architect Tom Kundig's approach in rich, yet understated luxuryThis coastal home, featured in 'Tom Kundig: Complete Houses', a new book launch in the autumn by Monacelli Press, is a perfect example of its author's approach to understated luxury. We spoke to Tom Kundig, the architect behind it
-
Tour architect Paul Schweikher’s house, a Chicago midcentury masterpieceNow hidden in the Chicago suburbs, architect Paul Schweikher's former home and studio is an understated midcentury masterpiece; we explore it, revisiting a story from the Wallpaper* archives, first published in April 2009
-
The world of Bart Prince, where architecture is born from the inside outFor the Albuquerque architect Bart Prince, function trumps form, and all building starts from the inside out; we revisit a profile from the Wallpaper* archive, first published in April 2009
-
Is embracing nature the key to a more fire-resilient Los Angeles? These landscape architects think soFor some, an executive order issued by California governor Gavin Newsom does little to address the complexities of living within an urban-wildland interface
-
Hop on this Fire Island Pines tour, marking Pride Month and the start of the summerA Fire Island Pines tour through the work of architecture studio BOND is hosted by The American Institute of Architects New York in celebration of Pride Month; join the fun
-
A Laurel Canyon house shows off its midcentury architecture bonesWe step inside a refreshed modernist Laurel Canyon house, the family home of Annie Ritz and Daniel Rabin of And And And Studio
-
A refreshed Rockefeller Wing reopens with a bang at The Met in New YorkThe Met's Michael C Rockefeller Wing gets a refresh by Kulapat Yantrasast's WHY Architecture, bringing light, air and impact to the galleries devoted to arts from Africa, Oceania and the Ancient Americas
