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Blueprints give peek inside Apple's new HQ

Building's motifs seem to include spaciousness, light, and the noncolor white.

Edward Moyer Senior Editor
Edward Moyer is a senior editor at CNET and a many-year veteran of the writing and editing world. He enjoys taking sentences apart and putting them back together. He also likes making them from scratch. ¶ For nearly a quarter of a century, he's edited and written stories about various aspects of the technology world, from the US National Security Agency's controversial spying techniques to historic NASA space missions to 3D-printed works of fine art. Before that, he wrote about movies, musicians, artists and subcultures.
Credentials
  • Ed was a member of the CNET crew that won a National Magazine Award from the American Society of Magazine Editors for general excellence online. He's also edited pieces that've nabbed prizes from the Society of Professional Journalists and others.
Edward Moyer
2 min read
Let there be light. 9to5 Mac

Tired of looking at the same old "leaked" photos of "the new iPhone 5," complete with metal back, relocated headphone jack, funny little holes arranged asymmetrically on the bottom, and, of course, a bigger screen? How about getting a glimpse of the interior of Apple's new Cupertino, Calif., headquarters instead?

Elyse Betters over at 9to5 Mac has put together a gallery of details from blueprints she says a reliable source provided to the blog.

Perhaps the most surprising thing about the images is that it appears the interior will be done up in a riot of neon colors.

Um, no. The primary color scheme looks to rely heavily on -- drumroll please -- white. There are, however, gigantic windows looking out on the surrounding eucalyptus trees, which don't appear to have been genetically altered to change their pigmentation to something a little more clean-looking. Not yet anyway. (Kidding aside, the images suggest that the same respect for materials that's been brought to bear on the iPhone will be evident throughout this building as well.)

There even seems to be at least one tree inside the building, which creates a nice moment of in-here-is-out-there spaciousness.

It's also interesting to look at the images and ponder Steve Jobs' reported concern with designing spaces that would bring about serendipitous encounters between employees -- encounters, Jobs felt, that could lead to the sorts of casual conversations that could spawn innovative solutions to problems the employees were working on. (For more on that, jump to 02:52 in this New York Times video about the Pixar HQ).

Betters' gallery can be found here. And hey, if you're not tired of checking out the latest iPhone 5 rumors, take a look at our roundup (and get a load of this sexy dock connector). After all, come Wednesday (speaking of bright colors...) the rumor fun will be all over for a while. Might as well enjoy it while you can.

Apple's 'spaceship'-like campus reboot (images)

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