An unofficial drone movie shot over the site of the new Apple Campus 2 in Cupertino, California, shows the latest progress on Foster + Partners' "doughnut" office design (+ movie).
Uploaded by Youtube user Duncan Sinfield, the high-definition movie shows that structural work on the building's foundations and below-ground-level floors and car park is almost complete, with sections of the building now starting to rise up to its full four-storey height.
Designed to serve as the new headquarters for the US tech giant, the $5 billion Apple Campus 2 will provide office space for 12,000 staff with a central 260,000-square-metre ring-shaped building. It is due to open in 2016.
The campus was designed by Foster + Partners after the firm's founder, British architect Norman Foster, was personally invited to take on the job by Apple's late CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs.
"For me this project started in the summer of 2009," said Foster in a movie published by Cupertino City Council. "Out of the blue a telephone call. It's Steve: 'Hi Norman, I need some help.' I was out there three weeks later."
The building's circular form is intended to help change workplace behaviours, encouraging staff to use and interact with the building and surrounding facilities. It will sit in the centre of the 150-acre site, surrounded by a large area of landscaped grounds and ancillary buildings. According to the design team, the site will be 80 per cent green space when the project is finished.
A series of drone movies shot by amateurs have been uploaded over the past year, tracking the 32-month construction project.
Sinfield has posted monthly updates using a DJI Inspired 1 quadcopter, which is designed specifically for filming with a built-in camera suspended from an arm below the main body of the drone.
As well as revealing construction progress on the main offices, the movie shows the status of work on an auditorium building on the site, a rectangular research and development structure and a separate four-storey car park.
The project is so large that the company has created an on-site cement plant, according to the movie.
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The first drone movie to show images of the site, by YouTuber JCMinn, was published in August 2014, presenting a huge circular foundation trench that dwarfed houses in the surrounding residential district.
The Apple Campus will have one of the largest photovoltaic solar arrays in the world and feature a parking garage for electric cars with over 100 charging stations.
Earlier this month, Foster + Partners revealed it was working with car manufacturer Nissan to redesign its electric car charging stations. The firm is also behind the designs for Apple's new stores around the world.