Apple (AAPL) CEO Steve Jobs made a surprise appearance at the Cupertino City Council last night to announce Apple’s plans for a spaceshiplike circular building in Cupertino that will house 12,000 workers on the site of what is now a Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) campus.
Jobs said “Apple is growing like a weed” and that it was time to expand out from its main campus at the corner of De Anza Boulevard and Interstate 280. The current building holds roughly 2,600 employees while other employees are scattered about in buildings throughout the city.
“We’ve got almost 12,000 people in the area,” said Jobs, who has been on medical leave from Apple but appeared the day before at the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference 2011 in San Francisco. “So we’re renting buildings, not very good buildings either, at an ever greater radius from our campus and we’re putting people in those. It’s clear that we need to build a new campus. “
That new campus will be on 150 acres at the corner of Pruneridge Avenue and Wolfe Road. HP announced in July last year plans to move its Cupertino operations to its Palo Alto campus. Apple reportedly purchased the land in late 2010. HP plans to move out completely by next year.
Jobs unveiled plans and renderings for a campus that will have a decidedly lush and space-age look. The new home to Apple will feature a single four-story, circular building that will house about 12,000 employees. The building will have a heavily landscaped center.
“It’s a little like a spaceship landed,” Jobs told the council. “There is not a single straight piece of glass in this building. I think we do have a shot at building the best office building in the world. I really do think architecture students will come here to see this, I think it can be that good.”
The campus will look much greener than the current HP campus. Jobs said about 20 percent of the property is landscaped while the rest is covered by buildings or asphalt. He said once Apple is done, most of the parking will be underground and 80 percent of the area will be landscaped. He said there are currently 3,700 trees on the property, and the company plans to almost double the number and include some apricot orchards like those that were once on the property.
Jobs told the city Apple hopes to break ground next year and move in 2015. He said the Infinite Loop campus will continue to house about 2,600 Apple employees.
The new campus will have its own natural-gas-fired energy center as its main power source. It will also have an auditorium for major presentations, a research and development facility and cafe.
Council members appeared impressed and delighted with the announcement.
“Now that we have seen your plans, the word spectacular would be an understatement,” said Councilman Orrin Mahoney. “Everybody is going to appreciate what clearly is going to be the most elegant headquarters at least in the U.S that I have seen. We definitely appreciate the work that has gone into it and looking forward to working with you to move it through the process.”
The city of Cupertino is hosting a news conference today at 11 a.m. in the Cupertino City Hall lobby, 10300 Torre Ave.
