Apple employees keep walking into walls. Since the company’s new Cupertino, Calif., headquarters opened to staff in January, at least three 911 calls have been made requesting medical support for people who slammed into the glass walls of the building. The $5 billion building was a pet project of late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, who felt that the round, glass centerpiece of what is now Apple Park would become known as “the best office building in the world.” So far, though, it’s just the most painful.
According to The San Francisco Chronicle, Cupertino building official Albert Salvador expressed concerns about the glass structure as it was being built, noting that the glass walls were indistinguishable from the glass doors. As he and Dirk Mattern of the Santa Clara County Fire Department were talking about this to a contractor nine months ago, another contractor walked right into the wall.
Employees began moving into the building on January 2. That’s when the 911 calls began. Tech website BGR published the transcripts of the three calls that were placed from January 2-4. The first caller described his coworker’s injuries saying there’s “a small cut on their head and they are bleeding, slightly disoriented.”
Dispatcher: Is the patient male or female?
Caller: Male.
Dispatcher: Is he awake?
Caller: He is conscious.
Dispatcher: Is he breathing?
Caller: That we do not know. Yes, yes, he’s conscious and breathing.
The second caller described another person’s injuries as “a cut on the eyebrow.” Their “let’s call it, first aid certified personnel” seemed to feel the employee would need stitches.
The third call was made by the person who actually walked into the wall:
Dispatcher: Tell me exactly what happened.
Patient: Um, I walked into a glass door on the first floor of Apple Park when I was trying to go outside, which was very silly.
Dispatcher: You keep breaking up. You walked through a glass door?
Patient: I didn’t walk through a glass door. I walked into a glass door.
Dispatcher: OK, one second. Did you injure your head?
Patient: I hit my head.
At a meeting of the Rotary Club of Cupertino, Dan Whisenhunt, an Apple vice president of real estate and development, told members that they hadn’t really had any problems with birds flying into the glass. But “the humans on the inside, that’s a different story.”
Many Twitter users pointed out that the problem is probably exacerbated by the fact that these are Apple employees, so they’re all probably looking at their phones instead of where they’re going. They’d probably walk into regular walls too, come to think of it!
Walking into (glass) doors happens. Particularly when you're looking at your iPhone or apple watch. Apparently. pic.twitter.com/1bqEKY3heo
— Peggy Mason (@neuroMOOC) March 6, 2018
The solution isn’t stickers on doors but a proximity alarm on iPhones. My guess is these klutzes never look up. https://t.co/2AYZUhwaod
— Mario Diana (@_mario) March 6, 2018
The headquarters, nicknamed “The Spaceship,” is unimaginably luxurious, with Steve Jobs’ signature over-the-top attention to detail. Macworld reports that the complex has “a 100,000-square-foot fitness centre for Apple employees, 300,000 square feet of secure research and development facilities, and two miles of walking and running paths for employees, underground parking plus an orchard, meadow and pond.” Of course, none of these amenities can do much good if everyone’s in the hospital with cut up heads.
The San Fransisco Chronicle, which located the 911 transcripts, wasn’t able to find out exactly how many injuries have been sustained since employees moved in a few months ago. But, given that there were three 911 calls in the first two days, you have to imagine there have been quite a few. Well, at least the building looks beautiful. What’s a concussion or two compared to that?
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