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Everything You Want To Know About Apple’s New Campus

[Techtaffy Newsdesk]

Apple has submitted revised plans for the Apple Campus 2 project to the city of Cupertino. The project replaces what the company calls “current disjointed assemblage of aging corporate facilities”, with a single high performance office, research and development building, with supporting facilities. Architectural firm Foster + Partners, headed by Norman Foster, have been hired as architects for the project.

Apple Campus 2 is expected to bring together some 14,200 Apple employees in one location. The company has plans to redevelop the entire 176-acre site, and  will continue to occupy the existing Infinite Loop Campus, as well as other buildings within Cupertino.

Lets take a quick look at what Apple plans to do:

  • Apple plans to demolish approximately 2.65 million square feet of existing office, research and development buildings, as part of the process.
  •  Apple wants to replace the existing asphalt and hardscape with over 100 acres of landscaped green space, with meadows and woodlands of rich oak savanna reminiscent of the early Santa Clara Valley.
  • The signature main building is expected to accommodate up to 12,000 employees, and comprises approximately 2.8 million square feet in four stories.
  • Approximately 15% of the main building area is allocated for technical support spaces. Thats a lot of room for testing and R&D!
  • Campus amenities will include a restaurant within the main building, a separate fitness center comprising approximately 100,000 square feet, and a 1,000-seat corporate auditorium comprising approximately 120,000 square feet.
  • There will be approximately 10,500 parking spaces. Underground and structured parking will replace 9,220 surface parking spaces – creating almost three times more open space.
  • There will be a dining facility of about 60,000 sq. ft. with movable seating at ground level for 2,100 occupants, as well as about 20,000 sq. ft. of mezzanine space to seat an additional 600 people, with 1,750 seats on terraces for outdoor dining .
  • Approximately 83,000 sq.ft. of space will be dedicated to meeting and breakout spaces within the communal zones of the building.
  • An assembly space with fixed seating for 1,000 people is proposed for the southern part of the site comprising about 120,000 sq. ft. with pedestrian access off North Tantau Avenue, north of Calabazas Creek. The building  will also contain a large lobby, restrooms, and some back-of-house facilities, including a catering kitchen.

It will still be at least a couple of years before the company can move to the new campus, more likely around 2016. The City of Cupertino has to complete its environmental impact study first. The draft Environmental Impact Report is anticipated to be available for public review in Spring 2013, following which there will be public hearings at the Planning Commission and City Council.

Apple had first submitted the proposal for a new campus in August 2011.  The proposal had come from none other than Steve Jobs himself. The land the new campus will stand on, originally belonged to HP, and was purchased by the company around the same time Steve Jobs had landed himself a job there. Apple purchased the land from HP when it came up for sale.

[Images courtesy: City of Cupertino, Apple]

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