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.
Related Stories
75 Top Building Products | Mar 22, 2018
101 Top Products: Glass + Glazing
Among the best glass + glazing products included in BD+C's Top 101 Products report are Guardian Industries' CrystalBlue Glass, SageGlass's Electrochromic Glass, and Technical Glass Products’ Fireframes TimberLine Series.
Sponsored | Glass and Glazing | Mar 20, 2018
'A sense of place': Connectivity and healing at ProMedica Health and Wellness Center
With 23 interconnected standard clinic modules, the center is designed for ease of movement for patients, staff and supplies.
Sponsored | Glass and Glazing | Feb 1, 2018
Subtle or striking, always flexible
Interior design possibilities with the latest interior glass products
Sponsored | Glass and Glazing | Nov 21, 2017
Back-painted glass: Luxury effects made easy
Products that give an elevated energy to their environment are important for builders and designers to consider.
Glass and Glazing | Nov 20, 2017
Smart glass maximizes comfort at Bowie State University
By blocking sunlight on hot days, the electrochromic glass will help reduce energy demand in the building.
University Buildings | Nov 6, 2017
A reconstructed building sets the standard for future rehabs at Cornell
Early AE collaboration played a major role in moving this project forward efficiently.
Glass and Glazing | Oct 13, 2017
Toronto’s CN Tower improves views with floor-to-ceiling dynamic glass windows
The glass darkens in proportion to the sun’s intensity to produce a reduction of heat and glare inside the building.
Glass and Glazing | Oct 12, 2017
Glass installation depicts Chicago landscape at O’Hare Terminal 5 expansion
The art was inspired by NASA satellite imagery.