Apple planning 12,000 campus in Cupertino

Apple CEO Steve Jobs has presented the companies plans to build a second campus in Cupertino, California which could hold 12,000 Apple employees. The current campus at One Infinite Loop holds around 2,600 employees.

Jobs said “Apple's grown like a weed. And, as you know, we've always been in Cupertino. Started in a little office park and eventually got the buildings we are in now.” Jobs says that Apple have 12,000 employees in the region and they are having to rent buildings some distance from their HQ. The new office building plans would enhance the current facilities.

Apple have spent a lot of money on land, purchasing 150 acres for the new campus building, with the bulk of the land purchase originating from Hewlett Packard. Jobs has said that this land is special as the HP founders Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard were his idols when he was a kid growing up.

He said “When I was 13, I called up Bill Hewlett because he lived in Palo Alto and there were no unlisted phone numbers in the phone book, which gives you a clue to my age. And he picked up the phone and I talked to him and asked him if he'd give me some spare parts for something I was building called a frequency counter. And he did, but in addition to that, he gave me something way more important. He gave me a job that summer, a summer job at Hewlett Packard right here in Santa Clara off 280 at the division that built frequency counters. And I was in heaven. As Hewlett Packard has been shrinking lately, they decided to sell off some property and we bought it.”

“It's a little like a spaceship landed. “It's got this gorgeous courtyard in the middle, but it's got a lot more. He also said that Apple may “have a shot at building the best office building in the world. I think it could be that good.”

Jobs went on to explain that the new campus would be 80 percent landscaping and that Apple have hired some of the best architects in the world for the design. Apple would double the number of trees on the property from 3,700 to 6,000. Apple would also be supplying their own power for the campus. With an auditorium for speeches and presentations and a fitness center with R&D facilities, they are covering all bases.

KitGuru says: The latest expansion for the unstoppable rollercoaster called Apple.

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