Drone enthusiast Matthew Roberts has been making regular trips to the 176-acre campus to document its development, with his latest effort suggesting the HQ should be ready to open its doors to 14,000 employees toward the end of this year or early next.
Roberts told Digital Trends that gathering footage for his artfully shot Cupertino sequences usually takes between three and four hours, with his latest production shot using a DJI Phantom 3 Professional quadcopter.
Besides the main circular four-story building, the new campus will include a research and development facility, fitness centers, dining facilities, and a 1,000-seat underground auditorium, which features the biggest freestanding carbon-fiber roof ever made. The auditorium will be used as the location for future product unveilings like the one scheduled for Wednesday where we’re expecting to meet the next iPhone, among other products.
There’ll also be a dedicated visitor’s center where Apple fans can view the campus from an incorporated observation deck. It’ll include a cafe and, of course, an Apple Store, too.
There’s no sign yet of the thousands of trees and many jogging paths that are lined up for its expansive grounds, though when they start to show up, we’ll know the work is almost done.
The main building’s remarkable design is the work of acclaimed British architect Norman Foster, though the overall project was the long-held dream of the late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, who pushed forward with the ambitious plan until his untimely death in 2011.
