Oh, and guess what it?s called" Apple Park When it opens later this month, Apple?s shiny new Norman Foster-designed headquarters in Cupertino, California will be more than just a spaceship-like orb nestled in 175 acres of trees. It will have enough space to park 11,000 cars?an area far bigger than the square footage of the actual building.
Apple?s parking infrastructure serves as the the opening anecdote of ?Parkageddon,? an investigation by The Economist looking at why humans devote so much land to the storage of motionless vehicles:
For 14,000 workers, Apple is building almost 11,000 parking spaces. Many cars will be tucked under the main building, but most will cram into two enormous garages to the south. Tot up all the parking spaces and the lanes and ramps that will allow cars to reach them, and it is clear that Apple is allocating a vast area to stationary vehicles. In all, the new headquarters will contain 318,000 square metres of offices and laboratories. The car parks will occupy 325,000 square metres. That?s almost 3.5 million square feet, or about 80 acres dedicated to parking.
Did I mention the building has been named Apple Park"
But before you go blaming the technology giant for paving over paradise, as The Economist quickly points out, it?s not really Apple?s fault:
Apple is building 11,000 parking spaces not because it wants to but because Cupertino, the suburban city where the new headquarters is located, demands it. Cupertino has a requireme...