Apple’s Spherical Terrarium
Apple will use more than six kilometers of curved glass once the project is completed at the end of 2016.
is currently being installed at
Apple’s Cupertino spaceship campus.”
Apple brought in its longtime partner Seele from Germany to make the curved glass panes. Seele also created the glass for Apple’s iconic Fifth Ave Store as well as other flagship Apple Stores (pictured above).
The panes are installed using a 21 meter high Cimolai manipulator, which raises the glass in place while workers fasten it to the facade.
The panes for the exterior ring of the spaceship measure 15m × 3.2m each. On the outer ring they’re slightly smaller at 11m x 3m. The building also supports large white canopies on the side and solar panels all over the roof.
Architectural firm Foster and Partners — which is overseeing the entire project — has dubbed the new Apple campus “one of the most environmentally sustainable projects on this scale anywhere in the world.”