Drone Video Shows Massive Apple Headquarters Under Construction
SILICON VALLEY (CBS SF) -- The office will eventually look like a UFO, and the unidentified flying object buzzing above it this past week was able to capture an amazing look at Apple's $5 billion new headquarters dubbed "The Spaceship."
In aerial GoPro video shared with CBS San Francisco, a drone-mounted HD camera rises up over the mile-wide dirt expanse near Interstate 280 in Silicon Valley known officially as Campus 2.
The photographer was clear to point out on his Youtube page youtube.com/jmcminn that "The quad copter remained under 400 feet as per FAA Advisory Circular 91-57 for remote controlled airplanes and helicopters and did not go within any airport no-fly zones."
The video has already had 1,270,000 views on Youtube since being posted August 24th, 2014.
Right now, the facility looks like a giant circular hole in the ground, maybe the foundation of a modern-day Stonehenge where worshipers come to pay homage to the gods of ubiquitous pocket-sized technology, but the building will be so unique it may actually stand up to its moniker of "The Spaceship."
Even the glass used in the windows will be special, made in a curved form by a German company that had to double its factory capacity to finish the project, which will require 6 square kilometers of glass.
Opening of the Cupertino facility has been delayed by almost two years, and the cost has increased from an initial $3 billion to the estimated $5 billion since Steve Jobs announced it at what would be his last public appearance, according to Bloomberg Businessweek.
The building will be a "net-zero energy" facility, meaning it will be designed so that it will create its own energy, using 700,000 square feet of solar panels, creating 8 megawatts of power. That's actually not enough, however, and Apple is working to procure other sources of on-site power.
13,000 employees will call the giant donut home when it is finished in approximately two years.