Dubai helps Apple to raise the roof

The city helped create the roof for the Steve Jobs Theatre at its Apple Park headquarters in California

Dubai's PMI score slipped slightly in February, dragged lower by the construction sector, but remains firmly in positive territory. Courtesy Dubai Media Office

Dubai does futuristic, it does space age and it does big.

So when Apple needed a roof for the Steve Jobs Theatre at its Apple Park headquarters in California, it looked to the emirate for help.

What was created was an 80-tonne metallic carbon-fibre roof made of 44 identical panels.

It was tested by the city’s Premier Composite Technologies before being shipped to Cupertino. It caps off the 120,000-­square-foot subterranean auditorium, with a capacity of 1,000 seats.

The theatre is atop a hill, one of the highest points within Apple Park, overlooking the main building.

The process of moving more than 12,000 employees will take six months and construction of the buildings and parklands is under way.

The iPhone maker often unveils landmark products at the Moscone Centre in San Francisco. The Steve Jobs Theatre, with 360-degree views of the campus, is likely to be Apple’s new stage.