apple cupertino tour

Apple Park Visitor Center

Welcome to Apple in California. 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.

Created to illustrate the intention of building an office park that fits into the natural landscape, discover the Exhibition space within the Visitor Center that showcases the innovative design principles of Apple Park. Then, shop at the Store, which includes exclusive Apple and Apple Park branded merchandise. The merchandise is a highly curated selection of Apple products and accessories.

After exploring the Exhibition and Store, relax at the Apple Cafe. With comfortable seating both inside and out, the Cafe serves refreshments for guests to enjoy as they take in the surrounding olive grove. Lastly, head up to the Roof Terrace, which features a unique view of Apple Park and its rolling landscape.

PLEASE CONFIRM DETAILS DIRECTLY WITH BUSINESS FOR UPDATES

• Science & Technology ,

Parking Information

Free lot parking.

Wear Your San Jose Pride

We're partnering with local shop Headliners for a fresh line of merch. Get your white logo tee in black here , and look out for more to come. Plus, sign up for our monthly newsletter to receive updates, events, discounts and giveaways right in your inbox!

Here’s A Peek Into The Only Part Of Apple Park Open To The Public

The Apple Park Visitor Center is the ultimate Apple Store experience, with a roof terrace, cafe, and exclusive merchandise available nowhere else.

If you’re an avid Apple fan, consider paying a visit to the Apple Park Visitor Center in Cupertino for the ultimate Apple Store experience. The beautiful two-story building is the only part of Apple’s massive campus that’s open to the public , and it makes for an interesting peek into life for the highest echelon of Silicon Valley.

The Apple Park Visitor Center is the top dog of all Apple Stores , elevating the typical customer transaction into something that feels even more shiny and exclusive. Of course you can go shopping for Apple’s full range of products, but the rest of the space is dedicated to a full cafe serving coffee drinks and snacks, with ample seating and a pleasant roof terrace.

One of the most interesting elements is a large interactive 3-D model of the adjacent Apple Park , which is Apple’s enormous round fortress of a headquarters. Although the public cannot enter Apple Park, the model allows you to explore the era-defining building via augmented reality . It is the largest naturally ventilated building in the world and contains one of the world’s largest on-site solar energy installations. The gigantic groundscraper is a perfect circle covering approximately 64 acres , of which 80% is green space.

As for the Visitor Center itself, it’s unique for its giant carbon fiber roof which seems to float atop the substantial glass walls. In fact, the roof is only supported by the center stone clad core, meaning that there are no extraneous support beams to block the 360° view. Make sure you grab a seat on the roof terrace , which affords the best possible view of the adjacent Apple Park building from outside, as well as 9,000 drought-tolerant plants in the surrounding landscape.

The most devoted Apple fans will also have a chance to purchase exclusive Apple-branded merchandise at the Apple Store, including T-shirts, hats, playing cards, and tote bags. The Visitor Center is the only place in the world where you can buy these items.

Find the Apple Park Visitor Center at 10600 North Tantau Avenue in Cupertino , which is less than an hour drive from San Francisco. The Visitor Center is open from 10am-6pm Monday-Saturday and 11am-6pm on Sundays.

Featured image: Apple

TYPE IN YOUR SEARCH AND PRESS ENTER

Apple Tech Fan? Visit The Apple Visitor Center In Silicon Valley

Your changes have been saved

Email is sent

Email has already been sent

Please verify your email address.

You’ve reached your account maximum for followed topics.

Tampa General Hospital Stands Strong Against Hurricane Helene With AquaFence

Heartbreaking footage of helene's aftermath begins to emerge as residents assess its catastrophic damage, favorite tourist spots in cancun, mexico look unrecognizable following hurricane helene, read update.

What To Expect When At The Apple Park Visitor Center

Everyone knows about Silicon Valley and how so many of the world's tech giants are there, but it's not really a tourist destination - or is it? There is plenty of big, futuristic, and flashy tech headquarters there - although most are not open to the public (other than being able to wander around the massive campuses). Apple is one of the tech giants that has actually included a visitor center in their headquarters campus so that fans can visit.

For a very different attraction while in San Jose, consider visiting the Winchester Mystery House - an extremely massive and odd building built for the ghosts of those killed by Winchester rifles. After that, head up to San Francisco and see the best of the newest restaurants in the iconic city.

UPDATE: 2023/04/30 14:05 EST BY AARON SPRAY

Anyone can visit the Apple Park Visitor Center (although there are no tours of the campus). Tech nerds and Apple fans should consider a pilgrimage to Apple Park - the headquarters of Apple. This article was updated and expanded with what to expect when visiting the Apple Park Visitor Center (and buying a new iPhone and enjoy a cup of coffee while there).

Apple's Headquarters - Apple Park

Apple's headquarters is called Apple Park and it comes complete with a visitor center.

Apple Park Headquarters:

• Opened: To Employees In April 2017
• Location: Cupertino, California
• Site Size: 1.46 km2 (360 acres)
• Employees: Over 12,000 Employes (In The Groundscraper)

The main building of Apple Park is a massive circular groundscraper and has been nicknamed "the spaceship." The design of the Apple Park was influenced by Steve Jobs who wanted the campus to look less like more like a nature refuge than a typical business park.

• 80%: 80% of Apple Park is Green Space
• Main Building: A Massive Circular Groundscraper
• Visiting: The Apple Park Visitor Center is the Only Part Open To The Public

To that end, 80% of the site is made up of green space that has been planted out with drought-resistant trees and plants indigenous to the Cupertino area of California. In the center courtyard of the main building is an artificial pond.

Related: What's In The Surrounding Hills Of San Fran? More Than You Think

The Apple Park Visitor Center

The Apple Park Visitor Center comes with four main areas, an Apple Store, an exhibition space, a roof terrace, and a large cafe. The Apple Store offers Apple-branded merchandise not available at normal Apple stores (like T-shirts, hats, tote bags, postcards). The exhibition space showcases a 3D model of Apple Park with augmented reality.

• Parts Of The Visitor Center: An Apple Store, Exhibition Space, A Large Cafe, A Roof Terrace

This visitor center is the only part of Apple Park that tourists are permitted to visit. So while one can't just stroll around and have a poke around Apple's headquarters, at least they have created a special place just for visitors.

The Visitor Center is an architectural extension of the private campus where visitors can learn, explore, shop, and more. The intention here is to showcase the innovative design principles of Apple Park. One will see how they seek to stay at the cutting edge of technology and how they plan to go carbon-neutral across their entire business by 2030.

After relaxing with a coffee (either indoors or outdoors), head up to the Roof Terrace where one can enjoy a unique view of Apple Park and its rolling landscape.

Some of their services may be limited due to the current pandemic, if one is planning to visit, consider checking their website to see the current situation.

• Hours: Opens at 10:00 a.m. closes at 6.00 p.m.
• Days Open: Open Daily
• Address: 10600 North Tantau Avenue, Cupertino, CA

After visiting the Apple Park Visitor Center, take the time to see the other giant in town - Google's Googleplex and enjoy a visit of the headquarters .

What To Expect Visiting The Apple Park Visitor Center

While there don't seem to be any guided tours around the Apple Headquarters, but the Visitor Center is a great place for shopping. It is a great place for Apple fans to appease their inner tech geek. Visitors note the modern architecture - including the modern minimalism of the Visitor Center.

The Apple Park Visitor Center is much more of an Apple Store than it is an Apple Museum or exhibition. It is worth a visit for those who want to experience Apple's newest products. The staff are also very helpful and friendly and will explain everything anyone wants to know about Apple's products.

The Apple Park Visitor Center is a place where visitors can have a more practical visit - like upgrading their iPhones.

In terms of merchandise, the Visitor Center also sells exclusive t-shirts of Apple Park. The price of coffee and things from the cafe is also reasonable - the prices are comparable to the prices of Starbucks in the area. Maybe being an "Apple" coffee will make the coffee somehow taste better too.

Related: San Francisco Has Its Own Cuisine, And It's A Haven For Seafood Lovers

One Company of Many In The Silicon Valley

There are plenty more headquarters to visit while in Silicon Valley. One can visit Google's campus for example (but visitors can't enter the buildings there). Some of the other iconic brands may also have visitor centers or even tours.

Silicon Valley is a general term for the region in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area that's a global center for high technology and innovation (even if Tesla did move to Texas). Silicon Valley more or less corresponds to the geographical Santa Clara Valley and San Jose in particular.

• Location: More or Less Geographical Santa Clara Valley
• Main City: San Jose
• Startup Companies: There Are Thousands Of Startup Companies Based There

Other cities that Silicon Valley includes are Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, Redwood City, Mountain View, Palo Alto, Menlo Park, and Cupertino.

The area is home to thousands of startup companies and has around a third of all the venture capital investments in the country. Technologies developed there include the microcomputer, the silicon-based integrated circuit, and the microprocessor.

Some of the most notable companies to be based in Silicon Valley are Adobe Inc, Google, Apple, eBay, HP Inc., Lockheed Martin Space, Netflix, PayPal, Twitter, and many others.

So if one is interested in emerging technologies and one of the USA's greatest technological success stories, consider popping into Silicon Valley. See where many of tomorrow's technologies are born. See Silicon Valley on the same day as visiting the iconic Golden Gate Bridge .

Apple Is The Largest Company In The World

Many people love Apple and many people hate Apple. But almost everyone has an opinion about the innovative (if not expensive) tech company. It is grown from "some fruit company" as Forrest Gump put to the largest company in the world today (it was never actually a "fruit company")

According to companiesmarketcap.com , as of the time of writing (October 2022), Apple was the most valuable company in the world priced at $2.2 trillion (about the GDP of Canada and more than the GDP of Italy as per the IMF ).

• Value: $2.2 Trillion (October 2022)
• Rank: 1st (October 2022)

The story of Apple is a fascinating one, and together with the other tech giants and lesser-known giant companies has helped make Silicon Valley into the world's premier center of technological innovation that it is today.

Next: How Best To Visit The Golden Gate Bridge, And Why You Should Know Its History First

• See & Do

Apple Park Visitor Center

The Apple Park Visitor Center is an extension of the private campus and offers guests a place to shop, learn, and explore.

• Privacy Policy
• Terms of Use

© 2015 Visit Silicon Valley

Get more from the products you love in our Get Started sessions. For select stores, explore a lineup of presenters under Featured Guests. Or, head out on a Tour to experiment with creative techniques.

Explore hands-on sessions at Apple Park Visitor Center.

Apple Park Visitor Center

Session spotlight.

Visit the Apple Store to shop for iPhone, Mac, Apple Watch, iPad and more. Our Specialists will answer your questions and get you set up.

Customer Service

Good to know, get the app.

• Apple Watch
• Accessories
• Digital Magazine – Subscribe
• Digital Magazine – Info
• Smart Answers
• Apple’s October event
• iPad mini 7
• M4 Mac mini
• 11th-gen iPad
• Best Mac antivirus
• Best Mac VPN

When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn't affect our editorial independence .

Complete guide to Apple Park

Welcome to our complete guide to Apple Park, the extravagant, multibillion-dollar new campus headquarters that the company has almost finished building in Cupertino, California. It’s an impressive building – but not everyone is happy .

Apple is one of the biggest companies in the world, so it’s no surprise that it is fast outgrowing its current headquarters at One Infinite Loop in Cupertino, California. As a result, Apple has spent years building a new HQ. (It’s since announced plans for a second campus , incidentally.)

The new campus is officially named Apple Park. (Before this was announced, the building was widely known as the ‘Spaceship Campus’ because of its flying-saucer-like design.) It’s located on the former Hewlett Packard campus.

When will Apple Park be finished?

Construction was scheduled to be finished by the end of 2017, and the large-scale building work was mostly done earlier than this. Even now there is still plenty of exterior landscaping to be done, however. Jump down to the section of this article where we post aerial drone videos to see the latest progress.

Since April 2017, the 175-acre campus has reportedly been welcoming employees, but it’s set to take more than six months to move all 12,000 employees into the new site, and some construction will continue over the summer even as employees move in.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Apple design chief Jony Ive revealed that his team would be moving in during the autumn of 2017, and will be among the last teams to move to the new campus.

There will be major product launches at Apple Park before long.

Indeed, one of the most important additions to the Park is the Steve Jobs Theater, which is likely to be the only part of the building we see regularly. It’s a 1,000-seat auditorium located on a hill, one of the highest points within the Apple Park, and will no doubt be the site of the company’s future product launches – something Apple promised at its ‘ ‘Let us loop you in’ launch event in March 2016.

How much did Apple Park cost?

It was originally estimated that the campus would cost half a billion dollars; the land alone cost $160 million. But (as is generally the case with large building projects), costs have overrun. The budget for the new spaceship-like headquarters ballooned to a little under $3 billion in 2011 and almost $5 billion by 2013, although at this point it was reported that Apple was looking at ways to trim this by a billion.

Apple is known for its exacting demands when it comes to design, materials and so on, but the spiralling costs of this project have caused some controversy. Back in 2013, it was reported that angry shareholders were attacking the project and labelling it as wildly extravagant.

Then again, Apple can probably afford it. A final spend of $5bn is a huge outlay but would still represent only about 2.3 percent of Apple’s gargantuan cash reserves: $215bn in January 2016.

Energy efficiency & green credentials

During the March 2016 event, Apple CEO Tim Cook said: “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. 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.”

Most of the power for the facilities will come from an “on-site low carbon Central Plant”, according to an Apple Insider report . The structure is outfitted with solar panels around the top of the building, too.

Additionally, 7,000 trees are set to surround the campus. Apple has hired a leading arborist from Stanford University to help landscape the area and restore some of the indigenous plant life, including apricot orchards.

The new campus will reportedly use recycled water, too, and will use 13,300 feet of pipeline to share the supply between it and Cupertino.

Design, layout and facilities

British firm Foster+Partners is the architects of this colossal building. Previous projects include Wembley Stadium, Canary Wharf Underground Station, Stansted Airport, London’s Millennium Bridge, HSBC HQ at Canary Wharf, the Maclaren Technology Centre and the Hearst Tower in New York.

In an interview with Architectural Record, Foster+Partners founder and chairman Norman Foster explained that he was inspired by the idea of a London square, where houses surround a park. This eventually evolved into the present design: a circular structure surrounding a large outdoor park.

Foster also explained that, when planning the layout of the building, the architects had to consider the different departments that would need to work together, and considered vertical proximities as well as horizontal ones.

“Of course, you have got an enormous range of skills in this building: from software programmers to designers, marketing, retail,” he said. “But you can move vertically in the building as well as horizontally. The proximity, the adjacencies are very, very carefully considered.”

This open-plan layout used in much of the building – with most employees situated around large tables instead of separated into individual offices – is intended to promote collaboration. But it hasn’t gone down well with everyone.

John Gruber has reported hearing from numerous staff members who are unhappy with the setup.

“Judging from the private feedback I’ve had from some Apple employees,” he said, “I’m 100 percent certain there’s going to be some degree of attrition based on the open floor plans. Where good employees are going to choose to leave because they don’t want to work there.”

One of Apple’s VPs, indeed, went further.

“When [senior VP of hardware technologies Johny Srouji] was shown the floor plans, he was more or less just ‘F— that, f— you, f— this, this is bulls—.’ And they built his team their own building, off to the side on the campus… My understanding is that that building was built because Srouji was like, ‘F—- this, my team isn’t working like this.”

Apple Park, which is more than a mile around, also includes a visitor centre, with an Apple Store and café open to the public.

That’s in addition to a 100,000-square-foot fitness centre for Apple employees, 300,000 square feet of secure research and development facilities, and two miles of walking and running paths for employees, underground parking plus an orchard, meadow and pond.

1,000 bikes will be kept on the site and available to staff to get around the campus. Jony Ive has revealed that employees can travel on electric golf carts and commuter shuttles if they have a long way to go.

There will reportedly be custom-designed 18-foot tables by a Dutch company called Arco for Apple employees to take advantage of in open work spaces to discourage an office-like atmosphere. There will be 500 tables, and if put end to end would roughly be the length of the National Mall in Washington, DC.

Despite aiming to be self-sufficient and earth-friendly, the range of materials used in the construction will without a doubt be the top of the line. “As with Apple’s products, Jobs wanted no seam, gap or paintbrush stroke showing; every wall, floor and even ceiling is to be polished to a supernatural smoothness. All of the interior wood was to be harvested from a specific species of maple, and only fine quality ‘heartwood’ at the centre of the trees would be used,” an insider told Business Week.

Since Jony Ive’s promotion to Chief Design Officer, there has been speculation that he’ll be designing elements of Apple’s new campus, including desks and chairs to be used by employees.

Ive has said that there are four floors at the campus, to minimise the need for elevators. He has revealed that the Apple Watch team will be on the third floor, and his design team will join the executives on the top floor.

Apple Park security

Apple takes security very seriously: it has a lot of ideas and new products it goes to great lengths to protect. Therefore it is not surprising that in planning documents first filed back in 2013 Apple stated that its goal with the new campus was to: “Achieve the security and privacy required for the invention of new products by eliminating any public access through the site, and protecting the perimeters against trespassers.”

In an email exchange with city staff back in October 2013, an Apple executive actually haggled over the location of a single tree. “If we move the tree an additional 5 feet in, the tree becomes a security issue for us,” the exec wrote, according to an LA Times report . “People will be able to potentially climb the tree and hop the fence.”

With the new campus Apple is attempting to cut off access as much as possible to the public – and it is likely that even members of staff will not have access to all areas of the new building.

Aerial shots and drone videos

We’re fascinated by the progress of the Apple Park construction project. In this section of the article, we gather aerial shots and drone videos showing how things have developed over recent months: we start with our latest drone videos and photos and work back to the start of the work.

February 2018: The drone crash

The air above Apple Park appears to be thick with drones, but as far as we’re aware this is the first drone to actually crash into the building. It was eventually located among the solar panels on the roof. Here’s the footage that was taken before, during and after the crash:

September 2017

Matthew Roberts took a trip to Apple’s campus at sunset in late September to showcase just how close it is to completion, and it looks stunning.

A week prior to September’s iPhone 8 launch event, Duncan Sinfield posted this drone video showing Apple Park in a state of near completion.

August 2017

Matthew Roberts’ latest video shows construction wrapping up, as well as some close ups of the Steve Jobs Theatre.

Roberts has been publishing drone footage of the new Apple campus on a monthly basis. If you visit his YouTube channel you can see the videos that show how the new campus has been coming together.

Here’s the some more drone footage of the construction site, published by Matthew Roberts .

As with most of these videos, we have to point out that this was not shot in June, but near the end of May.

And here’s another video from Roberts for May…

…and one for April 2017.

By the end of February Apple Park was looking great, but construction was clearly still in process. At this point there was only a month to go until the headquarters opened.

January 2017

Matthew Roberts flew a drone right over the campus to show you what it looked like in January. As you’ll see, the garages have been completed, and are being used by construction workers; and an estimated 70 percent of the solar panels have been installed.

This video has been labelled ‘Feb 2017’ but we received the link on 30 January so we’re calling shenanigans on that.

Late January also saw this video, from Duncan Sinfield:

Matthew Roberts sent us another drone video earlier in January. The campus was certainly looking a lot more finished than it had done in previous months, but the weather meant that much of the landscape had been reduced to slushy, swampy mud.

December 2016

In December Apple sent photos of the seemingly near-completed Campus 2 headquarters to staff, and these were inevitably leaked. The French-language website MacGeneration got hold of them.

Here are a selection of the ones we liked best; visit MacGeneration for more.

Picture credit for this and the following three images: Apple/MacGeneration

Garden landscaping has started. Apple says there will be 3,000 trees on site

The site from the air

Late November 2016

Here are the two most recent drone videos of the site, both dated to December 2016 but actually shot right at the end of November 2016. Nearly there!

Here’s the second, shot by Matthew Roberts using a DJI Phantom 3 Professional:

November 2016

We return to the building site in November 2016.

September 2016

See the progress over at Apple’s new Campus via this next drone video, shot in September 2016.

August 2016

August’s drone footage showed great progress, with the building looking much closer to completion.

Below is drone footage of Apple’s new campus from April 2016.

February 2016

This video, shot in February 2016, showcases real progress on site and gives an idea of how vast Apple’s new HQ will be.

MyithZ recently posted another to showcase just how quickly the campus is being built (in glorious 4K, of course). You really get a sense of the size of the project, and the scale of the task at hand. Select parts of the building are now recognisable, including the hidden car park.

It’s fascinating to see how quickly the building work is coming along, and it seems that MyithZ seems to agree. Here’s his May 2015 update on Apple’s new campus:

Then, in April 2015, another video of Apple’s Spaceship campus was uploaded to MyithZ ‘s YouTube Channel in 4K:

February 2015

The drone-touting YouTuber went back with his drone in February 2015, showing us how much difference a month can make at Apple’s new campus.

January 2015

YouTube user MyithZ flew a drone over Apple’s ‘spaceship’ campus in January 2015. Watch the video below to see how the new campus was shaping up at the start of 2015.

Apple’s new HQ in London

In September 2016, it was announced that Apple will also be opening a new HQ in London, at Battersea Power Station – an iconic building in London. This building was the cover for Pink Floyd’s 1977 album named ‘Animals’ and led to its stardom. The building is 500,000-square-foot and can be considered one of the biggest office locations in London. Apple plans to move its 1,400 staff in the UK to the new Apple campus, after its £14/$17 billion investment. It’s set to open in 2021.

In October 2016, Business Insider UK shared a developer video showcasing a sneak preview of what Apple’s new London HQ would look like. The screen grab below shows just how big the development will be and how the iconic London landmark will be revamped. We’re excited to see more developments on the London HQ – we will be sure to update this article with any new additions.

• apple event

Our first look at Apple Park

Apple's spaceship has touched down in Cupertino, California. We visited its landing zone.

• Member of the board, UCLA Daily Bruin Alumni Network; advisory board, Center for Ethical Leadership in the Media

Tuesday wasn't just the launch of  three new iPhones, an Apple Watch and an Apple TV. It was also the first time Apple welcomed journalists to its gigantic, 175-acre Apple Park campus in Cupertino, California. 

Apple Park is home to several buildings, most prominently a 2.8-million square-foot ring unofficially known as the Spaceship, which boasts four-story curved glass panels, custom aluminum doorhandles and one of the largest roof-mounted solar farms in the world. It's the new home for more than 12,000 Apple employees, a sizeable chunk of Apple's Cupertino workforce. 

Our first trip to Apple's spaceship campus

Building this campus was one of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs ' dying wishes, and there's video proof: An ailing Jobs went before the Cupertino City Council just months before his death  to pitch the project personally . (They approved it, unanimously, two years later.)

Apple Park is just a few minutes' drive from Infinite Loop.

Built on a concrete office park formerly owned by Hewlett-Packard, Apple Park sits on 175 acres in the heart of Silicon Valley, just a few minutes' drive from Apple's previous headquarters at 1 Infinite Loop. The spaceship wasn't finished, so we weren't allowed inside. Apple employees won't start moving in until the end of the year.

Instead, we visited two other buildings on campus -- the new Apple Park Visitor Center, which houses its own Apple retail store (which Apple are now calling "Town Squares"), and of course, the 1,000-seat Steve Jobs Theater where the company held its iPhone presentation.

The public cafe at the Apple Park Visitor Center.

In addition to the store, the Visitor Center hosts Apple's first-ever public cafe, plus an exhibit space currently being used to show off an augmented reality "experience" -- through the window of an iPad , you can hover over a 3-D model of the campus to see how it looks at different times of day, how traffic flows and where you can find a spot in Apple's giant detached parking structure.

The Steve Jobs Theater, meanwhile, is set on a small hill, a short walk above the Visitor Center. You reach it after walking up a lovely (though smelly -- they'd just fertilized the grounds) paved pathway, with trees and flowers all around. And then, you see it: a 20-foot-tall glass cylinder, 165 feet in diameter, with a roof that reflects the sky. It's a spaceship, too, on a smaller scale. And glass is the only thing holding that stunning roof up.

CNET editor-in-chief Connie Guglielmo poses with Steve Wozniak, Apple's co-founder and Bay Area legend, in front of the Steve Jobs Theater.

The glass dome is merely the foyer for the auditorium, which sits below ground. To get there, you take two curved glass elevators that rotate as they descend, or one of a pair of curved staircases that step down to the reception area and demo room for Apple's new products. A small sign hangs above the entrance to the auditorium, carved into the bare white stone. It simply reads "Steve Jobs Theater."

Inside the theater, the feeling is one of simple, elegant lines and designs. White, black, gray, brown. No jarring colors. Curved edges. Smooth surfaces. Serene is the word that comes to mind. We sit on squishy, comfortable brown leather seats, each with a power outlet built into the side, presumably so you never have to stop using your favorite Apple device. 

The front few rows, which were used to seat VIPs like Disney's Bob Iger and director J.J. Abrams on Tuesday, are basically couches made of the same brown leather that curve, slightly, around the main stage. Curved is the theme.

Outside the theater again, standing in the courtyard, the nearly finished spaceship is visible in the background. The building looks massive, otherworldly, even at this distance.

The spaceship, as viewed from the Steve Jobs Theater.

The other thing we notice is how quiet and peaceful it is here -- quite a feat considering the campus sits adjacent to Interstate 280, one of the main arteries through the Silicon Valley. That quiet could be temporary, because Apple Park isn't really open yet to the tens of thousands of Apple employees and visitors who will make it their mecca, or merely want to visit the campus Jobs designed. 

It's hard to believe, as Apple CEO Tim Cook noted in his opening dedication on Tuesday , that this now park-like campus was once an asphalt jungle of industrial office buildings surrounded by acres of parking lots.

Apple : See what's up with the tech giant as it readies new iPhones and more.

Goodbye, home button? Get ready for the iPhone's biggest change ever.

Mobile Guides

• Best iPhone
• Best Galaxy S24 Deals
• Best iPhone Deals
• Samsung Galaxy S24 Review
• Best Android Phones
• Best Samsung Galaxy Phone
• Pixel 8 Pro Review
• iPhone 15 Pro/Pro Max Review
• Best iPhone 15 Deals
• Best Foldable Phones
• Galaxy Z Fold 5 Review
• OnePlus Open Review
• Best Galaxy Z Flip Deals
• Best Wireless Earbuds
• Best Noise Canceling Headphones
• Best Headphones
• Best Over Ear Headphones
• Best Wireless Earbuds and Headphones for Making Calls
• Best Headphones for Work at Home
• Best Noise Canceling Wireless Earbuds
• Best Sounding Wireless Earbuds
• Best Cheap Wireless Earbuds
• Best Wireless Headphones
• Best iPhone 15 Cases
• Best iPhone 14 Cases
• Best Power Bank for iPhone
• Best Airpods Pro Accessories
• Best Magsafe iPhone Accessories
• Best Speakerphone
• Best Wireless Car Charger and Mount
• Best iPhone Fast Charger
• Best Portable Chargers and Power Banks for Android
• Apple Watch Series 8 vs Series 7
• Best Apple Watch Bands
• Best Android Smartwatch
• Apple Watch Ultra Review
• Best Smartwatch
• Best Prepaid Phone Plans
• Best Cheap Phone Plans
• Best Unlimited Data Plans
• Best Phone Plans
• Best Phone Plan Deals
• Best Senior Phone Plans
• Best Family Phone Plans
• Best Travel Phone Plans
• Best Verizon Plans

Visitor Center Opens at Norman Foster-Designed Apple Campus in Cupertino, California

Photo © Nigel Young / Foster + Partners

Architects & Firms

The new Visitor Center at the Norman Foster-designed Apple campus in Cupertino, California, is now open to the public. The center serves as a gateway to the 175-acre Apple Park and its centerpiece: a mammoth, 2.8 million-square-foot headquarters building defined by its donut shape and fully transparent exterior, clad in the world’s largest panels of curved glass. The campus will also include a public café, two miles of nature trails, research facilities, a 100,000 square foot employee fitness center, and the 1,000-seat Steve Jobs Theater.

Sited within an olive grove, the Visitor Center in many ways mimics the main building, known as the Ring Building. It, too, has a fully glazed envelope; its staircases are clad with the same quartz stone; and the café countertop is made from the marble used at the main restaurant. A large-scale model of Apple Park greets visitors, who can then go up to the roof terrace to observe panoramic views of the lush campus, which features 9,000 native trees, meadows, and a pond. 

Although more than 12,000 employees began occupying the Ring Building in April, it is still under construction; the Visitor Center is the first structure of the campus to be realized. 

Share This Story

Alex was an associate editor at Architectural Record . Prior to joining the magazine, she worked in marketing and communications for New York–based architecture firms. Her writing has appeared in the Architect’s Newspaper and CityLab. Alex holds a master’s degree in design criticism from the School of Visual Arts and a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University.

Post a comment to this article

Report abusive comment.

Restricted Content

You must have JavaScript enabled to enjoy a limited number of articles over the next 30 days.

Related Articles

Video: steve jobs pitches (foster-designed) apple hq to cupertino city council.

New Cornell Tech Campus Opens on Roosevelt Island

A New Exhibition at the Center for Architecture Explores the Design Potential of Scaffolding

The latest news and information, #1 source for architectural design, news and products.

Copyright ©2024. All Rights Reserved BNP Media.

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing