Apple's Spaceship Campus on Track for Early 2017 Finish
The original documents about the facility stated that Apple proposed to create “an integrated, unified and secure 21st century campus surrounded by green space."
Apple Campus 2 continues to emerge in Cupertino, Calif.
Apple Campus 2 continues to emerge in Cupertino, Calif. The office, research, and development headquarters covers 175 acres on the former Hewlitt-Packard (HP) campus. The first phase of the project is expected to be complete by the end of this year, and it has been announced that employees will move into the new facility at the beginning of 2017. It will have space for 12,000 people.
A recent press release noted that motorists can expect traffic delays in the vicinity of the Apple Campus 2 site. Construction work hours are from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays and from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekends, with additional traffic restrictions (additional lane closures, etc.) occurring between the hours of 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. weekdays.
According to reports, the construction work on the project is being completed by the joint venture of DPR and Skanska, which serves as general contractor. NCM Demolition & Remediation is the subcontractor for the demolition work.
The original documents about the facility stated that Apple proposed to create “an integrated, unified and secure 21st century campus surrounded by green space. This new development will provide a serene environment reflecting Apple's brand values of innovation, ease of use and beauty. The entire 176-acre site will be redeveloped with sustainable, state-of-the-art office, research, and development facilities. The project replaces the current disjointed assemblage of aging corporate facilities with a single high performance office, research and development building, with supporting facilities. The buildings are located in a unified and secure landscape, which extends and connects the interior workplaces to outdoor facilities for relaxation, recreation and reflection.”
Late Apple CEO Steve Jobs was at the meeting when the original drawings were unveiled to the Cupertino City Council in 2011.
“It's a pretty amazing building,” he said. “It looks a little like a spaceship landed, but there it is. It's got this gorgeous courtyard in the middle, but a lot more. It's a circle, and so it's curved all the way around. As you know, if you build things, this is not the cheapest way to build something. There's not a straight piece of glass in this building.”
The total cost for the four-story glass circular building is estimated at several billion dollars.
The architecture firm Foster + Partners was selected for the design.
The contract called for the demolition of approximately 266 million sq. ft. (24.7 million sq m) of existing office, research and development buildings, and the construction of:
• 3.42 million sq. ft. (317,728 sq m) of office, research and development buildings
• 120,000 sq. ft. (11,148 sq m) [1,000 seat] corporate auditorium
• 100,000 sq. ft. (9,290 sq m) corporate fitness center
• 25,000 sq. ft. (2,322 sq m) valet parking reception
• 92,000 sq. ft. (8,547 sq m) of utility plants
• associated parking facilities and ancillary buildings, such as security reception areas and landscape maintenance buildings.
Associated site improvements include access tunnels, a surface parking lot, outdoor dining and recreational facilities and landscaping.
The project also involves the removal of approximately 3,710 trees. Of these, about 90 trees are proposed to be transplanted, and at least 6,200 new trees will be planted.
Excavation was required for two levels of basement parking located under the main building; ramps to the underground parking and loading dock storage areas; foundations for the parking garage and access tunnel; the basement elements of the corporate auditorium and corporate fitness center; site grading excavation; and the Tantau office research and development facilities.
It was recently reported that none of the dirt excavated at the site will be removed from the 175-acre campus, and will become part of the building's landscaping.
The roof of the structure will be covered with solar panels — a total of 700,000. Construction crews are reportedly still installing the approximately 3,000 glass panes the building will use, many of which measure 36 to 46 ft. (11 to 14 m) wide and 10.5 ft. (3.2 m) long,
Inside, 4,300 unique concrete slabs will serve as floor and ceiling at the same time that they are working as part of the building's natural air conditioning system.
Apple is reportedly using environmentally friendly fuel cells by Bloom Energy, the same manufacturer that supplied units for the company's data center in Maiden, N.C.
According to reports, general contractors include DPR/Skanska for the main building and overall responsibility for the site work; BNBuilders, for the underground auditorium and fitness center, BNBuilders/Webcor Builders, for Phase 2, which will reportedly add 632,000 sq. ft. (58,714 sq m) of research and development space; McCarthy Building Companies for a parking structure; and Granite Construction Co. for road widening and utility relocation.
Subcontractors are listed as NCM Demolition & Remediation for demolition work; Clark Pacific for precast structural concrete; Conco Commercial Concrete, for cast-in-place concrete, using two on-site batch plants; Earthquake Protection Systems, for 700 seismic isolators — weighing 18,000 lbs. (8,164 kg) each); Rosendin Electric and Redwood Electric for wiring; Superior Air Handling, for HVAC; Pan-Pacific Mechanical for plumbing; and Permasteelisa North America for the curtain wall.
Brenda Ruggiero
Brenda Ruggiero has written for CEG for over 20 years. She lives near the town of Accident in far western Maryland. Her favorite assignments so far involved interviews with Survivor’s Boston Rob and hot dog eating champion Joey Chestnut. Both were involved in construction at one time.
Brenda holds a BA in Mass Communication with a writing focus from Frostburg State University and minors in Public Relations and Political Science. She works full time as a staff writer for a weekly newspaper, the Garrett County Republican. She enjoys feature writing the most, which gives her the opportunity to talk to people and share their stories.
Brenda and her middle school sweetheart, Reuben, have been married for over 34 years and have three grown children and four cats.
![The 120,000 sq. ft. (11,148 sq m) [1,000 seat] corporate auditorium nears completion.](https://dmt55mxnkgbz2.cloudfront.net/900x0_s3-30226-W-CA-187_16-BR-3.jpg)
