New $5 Billion Apple Headquarters Has a Glass Problem

Apple Park, the $5 billion Apple headquarters building in Cupertino, Calif., is as futuristic an office as you are likely to find. In order to create a sleek, futuristic aesthetic for employees, the complex’s design incorporated an extensive amount of glass walls and partitions. While the glass helps to create an open, airy floor plan, there appears to be an unintended consequence to all of the transparent walls.

As CBS San Francisco reports, employees are having difficulty seeing the glass walls and, as a result, are running into them, often times injuring themselves. That’s right, while some new buildings such as U.S. Bank Stadium in Minnesota have had issues with their extensive use of glass proving harmful to bird populations, Apple’s new campus is proving just as difficult to navigate for its human employees.

On more than one occasion calls have been placed to 911 describing employees that are bleeding or disoriented after colliding with the partitions. The current solution for the deleterious walls has been to stick small white stickers on the glass panes to help make them more visible. Whether a more permanent solution will be found remains to be seen.

BD+C’s second annual Accelerate Live! AEC innovation conference (May 10, 2018, Chicago) featured talks on AI for construction scheduling, regenerative design, the micro-buildings movement, post-occupancy evaluation, predictive visual data analytics, digital fabrication, and more. Take in all 19 talks on demand.

Fire rated glass takes a big bite at the Big Apple

Clear, fire resistive butt-glazed walls create transparent, connected and code-compliant stairwell

University of Wisconsin School of Business Grainger Hall’s east and west wings are now linked by a state-of-the-art Learning Commons that encourages collaboration through technology and design.

Accelerate Live! sponsor talk: Debunking daylight myths

In this 10-minute talk at BD+C’s Accelerate Live! conference (May 10, 2018, Chicago), SageGlass CEO Alan McLenaghan, PhD, debunks four common myths related to daylighting in commercial and institutional buildings.

A shape-shifting aesthetic and energy efficiency define Manhattan’s iconic VIA 57 West

An audacious residential structure in New York City preserves spectacular outdoor views while minimizing solar heat gain.

Accelerate Live! sponsor talk: The impact of new fire rated glazing technologies to design, performance, and the environment

In this 10-minute sponsor talk at BD+C’s Accelerate Live! conference (May 10, 2018, Chicago), Tim Nass, VP of Sales with SAFTI FIRST Fire Rated Glazing Solutions, details emerging applications for fire rated glazing technology.