Each tech company's headquarters is an outlandism of character, projecting a desire for breakthrough creativity on all fronts. Which one do you prefer?
Apple
On February 22, Apple announced that its new "spaceship" headquarters would be officially named "Apple Park." Apple Park was designed by Jobs, and construction began in 2013. Four years later, the project is almost complete, and Jobs' vision has been realized by Jony Ive, Apple's chief design officer.
Apple Park, located in California, covers an area of 700,000 square meters and provides employees with offices, restaurants, fitness centers and more than 10,000 parking Spaces. Apple Park cost $5 billion, or 33.6 billion yuan, making it the most expensive corporate headquarters on earth. For comparison, 33.6 billion yuan is equivalent to Alibaba's total profits in the first half of 2016.
It is worth noting that the entire Apple Park building is designed to be extremely environmentally friendly, with 17 megawatts of electricity generated by solar panels on top, which can supply all the electricity used in the building. Apple Park also uses natural ventilation to the best of its ability, and Apple says it doesn't need cooling or heating for nine months of the year.
Amazon
Amazon Biosphere's new headquarters in Seattle, the United States, covers an area of about 300,000 square meters, including meeting rooms, dining rooms, entertainment rooms and other workplaces and living Spaces, it is designed by the world famous architectural design firm NBBJ.
As the name Amazon Biosphere suggests, the building is also green. Engineers have designed a greenhouse suitable for growing plants, including fruit trees imported from high-altitude climates, and may allow visitors to visit.
According to foreign media, the new headquarters of "Amazon Biosphere" is expected to be put into use in 2018.
Facebook
MPK 20, the headquarters of Facebook, is located in Menlo Park, California. It was designed by Frank Gehry, a famous architect of postmodernism in the United States. It covers a total area of 40,000 square meters and cost more than 400 million DOLLARS, about 2.7 billion yuan.
What makes MPK 20 unique is that it has an integrated design with an open interior, which facilitates communication and discussion between departments without space constraints, reflecting Facebook's open corporate culture.
The roof of MPK 20 boasts more than 36,000 square meters of green space, an area roughly equivalent to seven football pitches, with 0.8 kilometers of walking paths and more than 400 trees for employees to relax from their busy work days.