Apple employees to start moving into long-awaited campus in April
CUPERTINO, Calif. – One of the most iconic companies in the world on Wednesday set a time for when it will move into what looks set to become one of Silicon Valley’s most iconic business centers.
Apple said it will begin moving more than 12,000 employees into its new Apple Park campus in April. Construction of the campus in Cupertino will continue through the summer, and the company said it will take about six months before all of its employees move into the location.
If there was any doubt about who was the inspiration for Apple Park, such thoughts were swept aside as Apple said the facility’s main theater will be named the Steve Jobs Theater. The 1,000-seat auditorium will be enclosed in a 20-foot-tall glass cylinder that’s 165 feet in diameter and supported by a metallic carbon-fiber roof. Apple said the theater will sit on top of a hill that is one of the highest spots in Apple Park.
Jobs, the late co-founder and chief executive of Apple, presented his original plans for the company’s future home at a Cupertino City Council meeting in June 2011. That was Jobs’ last public appearance before his death in October 2011.
“Steve’s vision for Apple stretched far beyond his time with us,” said Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook in a statement announcing Apple Park’s upcoming opening. “He intended Apple Park to be the home of innovation for generations to come.”
And there will be plenty of space for the innovation that Jobs intended.
The main building at Apple Park, a UFO-looking ring, covers 2.8 million square feet and, according to Apple, “is clad entirely in the world’s largest panels of curved glass.” The Apple Park campus will replace 5 million square feet of asphalt and concrete with grassy fields and more than 9,000 drought-resistant and native trees, Apple said.
The massive number of trees isn’t the only aspect of Apple Park that emphasizes the company’s commitment to “going green.” Apple said Apple Park will operate on 100 percent renewable energy and have one of the world’s largest on-site solar energy installations, which will produce 17 megawatts of rooftop solar power.
Apple also said Apple Park will have the largest naturally ventilated building in the world and it will require no heating or air conditioning for nine months of the year. The facility was designed by architectural firm Foster & Partners and its final cost is estimated to be more than $5 billion.
Apple seems to want its employees to also save money on gym memberships, as Apple Park will include more than two miles of walking and running trails and a 100,000-square-foot gymnasium.
Tim Bajarin, president of technology research firm Creative Strategies, called Apple Park “the most technologically advanced building ever created,” and said that it could end up becoming more than something that is just a monument to Steve Jobs’ legacy.
“I believe it will also serve as a showcase,” Bajarin said, “for how office buildings of the future might be designed and built to utilize all types of natural resources and provide the type of working environment that is conducive to collaboration and effective work flow.”
Apple made the Apple Park announcement two days prior to what would have been Jobs’ 62nd birthday.