Apple Campus 2 nearly $2 billion over budget and behind schedule, says Bloomberg
apple-campus-2
Architects are looking for ways to cut costs
Bloomberg Businessweek is reporting that the budget for Apple's new "spaceship" campus has risen from $3 billion to "nearly $5 billion."
Citing five anonymous sources, the publication notes that the stretched
budget would make Apple Campus 2 more expensive than the World Trade
Center complex currently under construction. The project was originally
scheduled for completion in 2015, but the move-in date has now been
pushed back to 2016 as architects Foster + Partners search for a way to
cut the current cost by a billion dollars.
The new campus was announced
back in 2011 at what was to be Steve Jobs' last public appearance. Even
at $3 billion the budget for what is essentially an office complex was
high, but Jobs believed the cost was justified as it could become "the
best office building in the world." Speaking to the Cupertino City
Council, Jobs said that "there isn’t a straight piece of glass on the
whole building... and as you know if you build things, this isn’t the
cheapest way to build them."
"There isn't a straight piece of glass on the whole building."
Seele, the German firm tasked
with creating the curved glass exterior, says it's producing something
like "six square kilometers of glass" for the building, noting that
"normally we talk in terms of square feet." The company, which also
makes the glass staircases that have become synonymous with Apple's
retail stores, has doubled the capacity of its factory to complete the
project.
Campus 2 is also planned as a
"net-zero energy" complex. In addition to architectural energy-saving
tactics such as advanced skylights and an airflow design that will help
cool and warm the building, the campus will hold 700,000 square feet of
solar panels, generating 8 megawatts of power. Although that's enough to
power roughly 4,000 homes, Apple will still require additional power,
and is said to be negotiating deals on solar- and wind-generated power
to augment its supply. Apple didn't offer comment on Bloomberg's piece, but the publication seems confident that its sources are correct.
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蘋果飛碟新總部 造價近50億美元
預算超支20億美元自由時報2013-4-7
〔編譯陳維真／綜合報導〕蘋果共同創辦人賈伯斯生前打造的蘋果新總部Campus 2，原本預計在二○一五年以三十億美元的預算完工。不過現在卻傳出預算嚴重超支，總預算可能逼近五十億美元，且完工日期必須要延後一年，可能要到二○一六年才會完工。
賈伯斯在二○一一年六月宣布新園區的建造計畫，他以「太空船」來形容這棟建築物的設計。他說：「我們有機會建造全球最棒的辦公室，我真的認為建築系學生都會前來參觀。」四個月後，賈伯斯便因病過世。
指定建材 造價高漲
這座位於矽谷的新園區造型宛如飛碟，外圍是茂密叢林，中間廣大的中庭則種植杏樹、橄欖樹、蘋果樹、還有香草花園。
新園區完工後將可容納一萬兩千名員工。
由於賈伯斯希望新總部就像蘋果產品一樣，不要有任何接縫、間隙、或油漆的痕跡；內部裝潢使用的木材指定要特定的楓樹種，而且只用樹幹中心的心材；再加上建築的圓弧形設計採用曲面玻璃三百六十度包圍，導致造價節節高升。
一些建築師批評蘋果新總部的飛碟的造型設計並不好，但他們都不願出面質疑賈伯斯的美學觀點。
幫Google設計過辦公室的建築師則認為，蘋果新總部的辦公室會隔離員工，對提升生產力沒有幫助。
去 年流出的影像顯示，新園區占地一百七十八公頃。完工後，會有一座設有一千個座位的大禮堂、健身房、員工餐廳，以及面積多達八千四百坪的研究空間。除此之 外，園區有地下停車場，因此八十％的面積全為樹木所覆蓋，並由天然氣等清淨能源提供電力來源，屋頂上也會有面積近兩萬坪的太陽能板可發電，只有緊急狀況才 會用到當地電網。
賈伯斯生前原本希望二○一二年就能動土，二○一五年員工便可進駐。
不過，實際上今年六月才會開始拆除原本的 舊建築。據稱，完工日期延後是因為和一些下游的承包商合約還未談攏。雖然還沒開始正式施工，但總預算已經從二十億多美元一路暴增到近五十億美元（約一千四 百九十億台幣）。連紐約世貿中心重建計畫的三十九億美元預算都相形失色。不過，比起蘋果公司手中的一千三百七十億美元現金，五十億的預算還占不到一％。
