Apple Campus 2 will accommodate 13,000 employees, have its own power plant

Steve Jobs went in front of the of the Cupertino city council back in June with a proposal that would allow Apple to expand its campus by building a new one that would hold 12,000 employees.

The 150 acres of land previously belonged to Hewlett-Packard, which Apple bought from the company when it started to downsize. Apple’s architects originally came up with a rather futuristic-looking design that looks like a mixture of a UFO and the Pentagon. The glass structure will have no flat surfaces and is literally one big curve. Jobs boasted that Apple knows how to make the biggest pieces of glass in the world for architectural use. If you take a look at Apple’s trademark 5th Ave store in New York, you know what he means.

The project is expected to be finished in 2015 by architects Foster + Partners, ARUP, and civil engineering firm Kier & Wright. Architizer reports more information about the campus, which was filed under the name “Apple Campus 2.” The four-story circular building will contain almost 2.8 million square feet and actually will be able to accommodate 13,000 employees – 1,000 more than Jobs had originally estimated in his speech to the city council.

The main facilities will have a 1,000 seat auditorium, which will be perfect for getting all the tech pundits out to Cupertino for every Apple announcement. There will also be a 300,000 square foot research center. Apple will also not be relying on Cupertino’s power grid; instead, the facility will have its own central power plant that will generate its own energy.

Apple Campus 2 is still being reviewed by Cupertino City Council, but we think the city council would be remiss to not accept the proposed plans. The site will have its vegetation increased from 20 percent to 80 percent, even with the giant facility being added. So, Apple is using its own energy for the most part, increasing vegetation, and turning a rundown site into an architectural beauty. Plus, Cupertino’s economy will get a boost from all the people moving in to work at Apple’s new office, as well as the tourists who want to come see it, and the journalists who come for Apple announcements. Sounds like a win-win situation.

Obviously, Apple is growing like crazy. The company’s current headquarters located down the road house about 2,600 people, so obviously building a new site that can accommodate 10,400 more people is a big deal. Apple’s iOS devices are doing very well for the company, selling more than 222 million since 2007. Apple’s Q3 earnings, posted in July, showed record-breaking revenue of $28.57 billion. Another record breaker was its 20.24 million iPhones and 9.25 million iPads sold in the quarter.

With the future looking very bright for Apple and its devices, those 13,000 jobs are going to be filled very quickly at the new campus.