The new Apple Park Observatory sits seamlessly nestled into a hillside of the tech giant's renowned Cupertino campus. Unveiled this week, as part of Apple's series of September launches, including iPhone 16, Apple Watch Series 10, and AirPods, the site's latest addition 'provides a new venue to experience Apple Park and showcase Apple’s latest innovations,' the company explains.
Welcome to the Apple Park Observatory
The design features the natural stone, terrazzo and wood elements that make up much of the material identity of the wider campus and many of the Apple stores around the world – some of the most recent openings include one in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and another in London's Battersea Power Station (both designed by Foster + Partners). Foster + Partners worked on the building's early design concept, with Apple’s Global Architecture & Design team alongside Gensler developing it from there.
Open and flowing, the interior was crafted to be a flexible, multifunctional hall for special events and product launches. It sits in the heart of the wider site, next to the ring-shaped main building and Apple Park Visitor Centre, both by Foster + Partners.
The new building, like other Apple structures, uses sustainable architecture elements to ensure biodiversity and an eco-sensitive approach prevail. It was all designed to support Apple Park's aim to 'promote collaboration, communication, health, and wellbeing.'
The entire structure will run on 100 per cent renewable energy. Apple writes of its eco-friendly approach: 'Close to 90 existing trees from the site were temporarily relocated and brought back to preserve the old-growth meadow landscape. All plant species used in the project are drought tolerant, with low water usage, to align with the water-saving goals that Apple Park has set since its inception.'
-
Bhutan's new international airport will unlock the magic of a notoriously inaccessible destinationThe Gelephu International Airport, to be designed by BIG, will open in 2029.
-
The Eagan house from 'Severance' is available to rentThe Taghkanic House by Thomas Phifer serves as the home of Lumon’s CEO in the AppleTV+ series, and can be rented out for dystopian stays
-
The Further Reading Library is a new collection of esoteric art and design booksCollating the forgotten histories of left-field creatives, this new publishing imprint reveals hitherto unseen artistic experiments from the past
-
Heritage and conservation after the fires: what’s next for Los Angeles?In the second instalment of our 'Rebuilding LA' series, we explore a way forward for historical treasures under threat
-
Why this rare Frank Lloyd Wright house is considered one of Chicago’s ‘most endangered’ buildingsThe JJ Walser House has sat derelict for six years. But preservationists hope the building will have a vibrant second act
-
Buy a slice of California’s midcentury modern history with this 1955 Pasadena houseConrad Buff II Residence has been fully restored and updated for the 21st century
-
Step inside a writer's Richard Neutra-designed apartment in Los AngelesMichael Webb, invites us into his LA home – a showcase of modernist living
-
Join our world tour of contemporary homes across five continentsWe take a world tour of contemporary homes, exploring case studies of how we live; we make five stops across five continents
-
The Architecture of Seduction: how Horace Gifford built a modernist, queer paradiseFire Island is explored through a new edition of Christopher Rawlins’ seminal architectural and social history book on the life and work of Horace Gifford
-
Step inside this furniture gallerist's live-work space by Steven Holl in upstate New YorkDesigned by Steven Holl for modern furniture gallerists Mark McDonald and Dwayne Resnick, this live-work space in upstate New York is a midcentury collector’s paradise
-
Remembering architect Ricardo Scofidio (1935 – 2025)Ricardo Scofidio, seminal architect and co-founder of Diller Scofidio + Renfro, has died, aged 89; we honour his passing and celebrate his life
