New aerial photos of the site of Apple’s new ‘spaceship’ campus now appear to show that demolition of the existing buildings is complete, with an army of construction vehicles at work preparing the ground for construction …
Apple Toolbox last took aerial shots a month ago, at which time a number of old buildings were still standing:
One month earlier
Apple received the final paperwork for the development last November following unanimous approval of its planning application by the Cupertino City Council a month earlier.
We have an excellent idea of what to expect when construction is complete in 2016 thanks to an incredibly impressive scale model of the campus and highly detailed renders, together with a detailed look at the on-site auditorium where we can expect future keynotes to be held. We’ve also heard architect Norman Foster describe the evolution of the project, including Steve Jobs’ involvement since he first presented the idea back in 2011.
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It doesn’t look like that many construction vehicles, but maybe they are trying to keep the dust down for the nearby residents. Amazon is building a 1.5 million square foot fulfillment center a couple miles down the street from me. There are a lot more construction vehicles there, but there is also a persistent dust cloud.
It doesn’t look like many (any?) of the sites trees were saved, as per previous announcements that assured us they would be.
Most of the green on the concept images is going to have to be new planting, as it is going to be way more trees and plants than the lots originally had.
As for the trees Jobs noted were going to be saved, those would have been uprooted before demolition even began, right? It wouldn’t make sense to have to gingerly bulldoze around the them.
The statement made was that a significant amount of trees that were already on site would be moved (still alive) to another part of the site (but still on-site), and then moved back into position after construction. I’m just saying I didn’t see that happen and from the pictures that have been posted over the demolition period, it doesn’t appear to have happened. It’s not a big deal and it doesn’t really bother me. A lot of that stuff they spouted about the trees was clearly more PR than fact.
The trees were moved for safekeeping, and will be brought back. Let’s try not to jump to unwarranted conclusions.
I wonder what the mortality rate of those “preserved trees” will be. It’s usually quite high.
I would also like to know more about the use of native and drought resistant vegetation. The city really bent over for Apple much to the detriment of its residents.
Actually if you have been following the construction you would know that the trees have been moved and put on a tree farm for care during the construction, there were articles about that a while back.
@ Mr. Gray and herb02135go et al
I certainly don’t live in Cupertino or California but have been involved in many major construction projects. Sometimes actual conditions found during construction results in a change of plans.
From what I read I think Apple did work closely with the community, elected officials and the general public and residents. There is a website maintained by the City and Apple on Cupertino.org that provides a lot of information on the project including updates on construction. check out http://www.cupertino.org/index.aspx?page=1223
and http://www.cupertino.org/index.aspx?page=1107 and look to the left of these pages for other links regarding the project as well.
When I look at the plan of the existing property it is virtually all build-on property. Not many areas that were green. The new Apple Campus will be a major improvement in the green sense.
https://s3.amazonaws.com/apple-campus2-project/Site_Plan1_Submittal7.pdf In this document there are elevations of the site from each roadway showing an abundant amount of trees screening the property. That certainly is a much better look than the acres of asphalt and cement that covered the ground when Hewlett Packard used the site.
This plan https://s3.amazonaws.com/apple-campus2-project/Site_Plan2_Submittal7.pdf indicates there are 4,506 trees on the site at present. Of these, 844 ‘standard’ trees will remain, one ‘specimen’ tree will remain and 73 “standard” trees and 16 “specimen” trees will be transplanted. 3,521 “standard” trees and ’51 “specimen” trees will be removed.
There is even a “dropbox” page/folder so you can see/download agreements that have been reached.
I think Apple and the City are showing incredible responsiveness and transparency on a huge project that will greatly benefit Cupertino and the State of California.
Look for the facts, they are out there on-line.
nice veg plot….
Pretty cool writeup about in depth plans http://blog.tikr.me/2014/04/09/have-you-seen-apple-spaceship-campus/