The project for the realisation of the Apple Campus 2 in Cupertino, California, the new company’s headquarters designed by Studio Foster, started in 2012 and will be concluded, as planned, in 2016. After two years of competition, the Italian furniture company Estel has been awarded a project worth $80 million, for the realization of the glass partitions of the new headquarters, beating off the international competition.

Apple invested a huge amount of money for its new “home”: $5 billion for the whole project, of which more than $161 million will be used for building an 11,000 sqm auditorium and $74 million for a 9,300 sqm futuristic fitness centre which will be available to the 13,000 employees to be employed by the company.
The Apple Campus 2 will be an integrated, unified and secure 21st Century campus surrounded
by green space. This new development will provide a serene environment reflecting Apple’s brand values of innovation, ease of use and beauty. The entire 176-acre site will be redeveloped with sustainable, state-of-the-art office, research and development facilities, which will replace the current disjointed assemblage of aging corporate facilities with a single high performance office, research and development building, with supporting facilities. The buildings are located in a unified and secure landscape, which extends and connects the interior workplaces to outdoor facilities for relaxation, recreation and reflection. The entire Campus, indoors and out, is intended to promote shared creativity and collaboration, and spur invention of the next several generations of Apple products.
Estel, a company with 350 employees and a turnover of about €60 million, has been awarded the contract, beating off the international competition and winning “the final” against the last American company in the competition.
The work for realising the earthquake-resistant walls will begin in the summer of 2015, to be concluded in 2016. The project envisions mounting double glass walls, including blinds realized with wooden slats, for 1.3 kilometres suitable for furnishing every sector of the 280,000 sqm complex.
Estel will be taking care of all the production and supply, while the actual installation will be carried out by local workers trained and monitored by Estel.
Text by Gabriele Masi.