Apple Park: Where Is Apple’s Headquarters and Why Is It Famous?

Apple Park is the world headquarters of Apple Inc., and it is located in Cupertino, California, United States. Its circular spaceship-like design depicts Apple’s focus on technology, design and sustainability of the environment. This headquarters replaced the previous one, the main building being 1 Infinite Loop due to the growth of the company and the need for more working space. Construction of the building started in 2014 and employees were relocated to Apple Park in 2017.

Where Is Apple’s Headquarters?

Apple Park is built on a 175-acre plot in Cupertino, California in the Santa Clara County. The location has a close connection with Apple as far as its history is concerned.

This four-story round shaped building is also called as Apple Campus 2, or “The Spaceship” due to its giant round shape.

Apple Park superseded the company’s old headquarters, 1 Infinite Loop, which had been serving as the primary workplace for the company from 1993 up to 2017. The old campus is still under possession of Apple and is used by it as offices and laborataries.

Why Was Apple Park Built?

The need for a larger headquarters was that the number of employees and business activities in the firm had increased. The firm had exhausted much of the office spaces at 1 Infinite Loop.

The construction of Apple Park was driven by Steve Jobs, the former CEO of Apple Inc. He pitched the idea of replacing and rebuilding the existing headquarter to the city council of Cupertino in June 2011. He referred to the circular building as being like a spaceship that landed on the earth.

Although Steve Jobs passed away before the completion of Apple Park, it formed an essential part of his legacy.

Features of Apple Park

Apple Park incorporates office spaces, research facilities, public facilities and many green areas.

Some of the major features are,

• A 175 acre campus located in Cupertino
• Approximately 2.8 million square feet of office and research-and-development space
• A 1,000 seat auditorium named as the Steve Jobs Theater
• A 100,000 square feet of fitness center
• A visitors center with an Apple Store and cafe
• Four miles of jogging trails
• Many green areas and drought-resistant plants

Who Is the Designer of Apple Park?

The architectural firm behind the design of Apple Park is Foster + Partners, the globally recognised architectural company founded by British architect Norman Foster.

The company was hired to work on this project back in 2009. Work on demolition of the existing Hewlett-Packard complex commenced in late 2013, while construction started in 2014 and ended in 2017.

The most prominent aspect of the architecture of this new campus was definitely an increase in the amount of green space, which increased by more than three times according to some reports (from 20% to 80%) as compared to the old facility.

How Much Has Apple Park Costed?

The cost of construction of Apple Park is estimated at about $5 billion, which makes this project one of the most costly corporate headquarters projects ever undertaken.

The cost of acquisition of a 98 acre piece of land used for construction of this facility by Apple is estimated at about $300 million. It is worth mentioning that Apple had previously purchased an additional 50 acre piece of land next to this plot.