New Apple HQ construction across 2.8 million sq.ft, underway

A new Apple HQ is in the making, according to a latest project update posted on the official website of the Cupertino City Council. In the Apple Campus 2 project plans sent by Apple to the Cupertino City Council reveals the making of, what late co-founder, Steve Jobs had once said would be the "best office in the world"; and best is indeed what it feels like. Read on.

When Jobs said the new campus would be "little like a spaceship landed", you knew you had to take it seriously. The 'spaceship'-like campus is being designed with an aim to create an "Integrated 21st century campus surrounded by green space". Once the construction gets through, the Apple HQ will be large enough to accomodate 13,000 employees.

Apple Campus-2 HQ on completion in 2015 (Image courtesy: Official website of Cupertino City Council)

Here's a closer look at what's in store for Apple employees. According to the official post on the Cupertino City Council's website, the Apple Campus 2 project is a single building progressing upwards with 4 storeys, taking the total area to a breathtaking 2.8 million sq.ft. The main building will have a 'striking' cafe, a separate corporate fitness centre and a corporate auditorium, which can contain about a 1,000 people. Parking facilities reportedly will be available under the main building, in addition to a multistorey parking structure, along the 280 Freeway. A research facility spreading across 300,000 sq.ft., which will be located to the east of North Tantau Avenue is also in the pipeline. This facility will also include technical support functions, since they need to be located adjacent to the main building. 

The proposed site plan (Image courtesy: Official website of Cupertino City Council)

And, we have saved the "best" for the last. An innovator that he was, Jobs envisioned the unimaginable - a solar roof. The circular roof, in question will be covered with photovoltaic solar panels, making it presumably the biggest of its kind in the U.S. The energy, thus generated would be put to use to fulfill the power generation needs for use at the Apple HQ, maybe not fully, but partially.

The entire construction is being touted to near completion in 2015. Watch this space for more updates.