Edible Apple

Steve Jobs in early June appeared before the Cupertino City Counsel and laid out plans for a new Apple campus to meet Apple’s ever growing employment base. With approximately 10,000 Apple employees currently working in Cupertino, Apple is already strapped for space and has taken to leasing out nearby buildings and converting them into makeshift office space. By 2015, Apple expects that it will have over 15,000 folks under its employ in Cupertino.

In short, Apple needs to expand. And fast.

The structure envisioned by Apple and proposed to the Cupertino City Counsel can house 12,000 employees, is completely circular, is made out of glass and will be four stories high.

“It’s a little like a spaceship landed,” Apple CEO Steve Jobs said back in June. “It’s got this gorgeous courtyard in the middle, but it’s got a lot more.”

Following Jobs’ presentation, Cupertino Mayor Gilbert Wong effectively said that they will not be saying no to Apple’s proposal and that they’re excited about seeing the project move forward.

Final approval for the campus will be up for a city counsel vote this coming Fall, and if that goes through (and there’s no reason to believe it won’t), Apple expects construction to be completed by 2015.

In the meantime, the city of Cupertino has posted detailed renderings and blueprints of Apple’s proposed structure. Some of the more interesting tidbits include:

• An Office, Research and Development Building comprising approximately 2.8 million square feet;
• A 1,000 seat Corporate Auditorium;
• A Corporate Fitness Center;
• Research Facilities comprising approximately 300,000 square feet

The architectural firm on board for the project is Foster+Partners, a leading and highly regarded architectural group based out of London and behind buildings like the Hong Kong International Airport, the London City Hall, the Millau Viaduct bridge, and the Swiss Re Building in London’s financial district.

And lastly, a nice little landscaping shot.