Apple's new campus may fall behind schedule

[AppleInsider]

Apple is in danger of watching plans for its second Cupertino-based campus fall behind schedule, according to a new report, which notes that the company has yet to file the paper work necessary to begin construction efforts.

With Apple's head count swelling rapidly alongside its business, chief executive Steve Jobs made a surprise appearance at a Cupertino city council meeting two years ago this month to announce plans for a second campus about a mile away from its existing home, which had since reached capacity.

"We are in 30 other buildings now and they keep getting further and further away from the campus," Jobs told the assembly. "We've rented every scrap of building we could find in Cupertino."

Fearing the expansion would force the company's second campus to fall outside the borders of the town it has called home for three decades, Jobs and his team took a second look around and came up with a solution.

Though "a lot more expensive" than the alternatives, it called for Apple to acquire 9 separate properties located next to each other along Interstate 280, completely level them, and then build the new 50-acre campus in their place.

The plan, which would free space for an additional 3,000 to 3,500 employees, would likely take three to four years to design and build, Jobs said at the time. Those estimates were echoed by chief financial officer Peter Oppenheimer just a few days later.

But that was nearly two years ago, notes Fortune in a new report published on its Big Tech blog, which insinuates that those plans now appear slightly ambitious.

The publication confirmed with Ciddy Wordell, a project manager for the city of Cupertino in the area where Apple is to build its new campus, that the company "has not applied for permits to build on the site."

"They must go through a planning approval process, get a use permit and an architectural review," Wordell said. "It might even involve a general plan change."

After that, it will still take about two years for a construction effort of that magnitude, according to Fortune, which urges Jobs & Co. to get moving if they have their sights set on meeting their 2010 deadline.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[Ireland]

Agreed, get a mooove on.

Campus.. sounds so cute. Makes you forget for a second how many billions these companies are worth. If it was me I'd still call it a campus though.

[SpamSandwich]

Waitaminnit... they're still "Cupertino-based"?

[wirc]

Perhaps they're just waiting to have a huge hyped-up press conference.

I really hope they get some good architecture. Apple's campus is a dull 90s Richard Meier knockoff.

[seamuskrat]

They are waiting to have enough old recycled iMacs and iPods to build the new buildings. They will show Greenpeace they can go greena nd will recycle the 300 million old devices out there and use them as walls, and ceilings in enw construction.

[e1618978]

What did they ever do with this data center, is it housing iTunes or something?

http://sanjose.bizjournals.com/sanjo...27/story5.html

[8CoreWhore]

No wonder I can't get a new display.

[aaarrrgggh]

Originally Posted by e1618978

What did they ever do with this data center, is it housing iTunes or something?

Apple doesn't have external data centers on-campus. I think their main data center is across the bay in Fremont or Newark (next to the new 365 Main site); they used to be in Napa but that was bought out by someone else.

Having worked briefly on the Pixar campus in Emeryville a lifetime ago, I know first hand that SJ doesn't exactly take things lightly when it comes to a construction project. I would be amazed if it could be designed in less than 3 years. I don't think he is as much "hands on" in the construction phase, so that can be done inside a year if things go smoothly... but it should be two years of construction.

SJ isn't exactly into "fast tracking" when it comes to a building...

[aaarrrgggh]

Originally Posted by e1618978

What did they ever do with this data center, is it housing iTunes or something?

http://sanjose.bizjournals.com/sanjo...27/story5.html

Sorry, now I read the link. Having seen a few of the abandoned WorldCom sites, they were ready to start up in 2003, but by 2006 it is a gut-and-replace project. Yes, it would house most of the external functions for Apple, although Akamai is the main player in the iTunes network not company-owned facilities.

[pixelcruncher]

Jobs will pull people off the OSX or Final Cut teams to get it done on time. They'll probably go with 2.5 floors instead of the more power-hungry 3, which will save some time.

[leee]

Well, there is no deadline. They just said that it would be nice if they could build a new campus in 3-4 years. Apple has so much in cash they could probably make it in one year but it will take as much time as needed. Any media can urge them to move faster though I'm sure they care a lot.

[digitalclips]

Steve is waiting to see if a lot of unused space will be available in Redmond soon which he can use as a second base of operations.

[AImanchi]

Huh! Do we care. whats the danger in it

[cnocbui]

He's probably waiting until Lord Foster has a free moment.

When Foster was asked why the Millau bridge was curved, He replied that it just looked better that way. He and Steve are on the same wavelength I think.

http://flickr.com/search/?q=millau+bridge

[ClimbingTheLog]

They can't finish the planning stage until the design for the underground tube (automated) to conenct the two campuses is finished. Jobs has noted the insanity of everybody driving between the two campi.

[Slewis]

Null.

[wirc]

Originally Posted by cnocbui

He's probably waiting until Lord Foster has a free moment.
When Foster was asked why the Millau bridge was curved, He replied that it just looked better that way. He and Steve are on the same wavelength I think.
[/url]

Foster's technofetishism is certainly in line with Ive and Job's design sensibility, but it would be nice to actually have some kind of competition here. With Apple's cash reserves, some really spectacular architecture could be produced.

As to the Millau Viaduct, the effect Foster used has useful functional purposes as well. It's much less intimidating and slightly easier to see the distances of other cars on the road. Foster does like sneak little classical optical distortions into projects.

Originally Posted by Slewis

Why the hell would they have a hyped-up press conference over an extra campus? They sell computers, not campuses.

Really? Their press conferences were getting so good, I was starting to believe that they sell presentation services. Perhaps they can build an Apple Museum, which will have a stage show, where you can relive your favorite keynote, starting every hour in the iTheater.

(And the current one is definitely 90s, made in 1993, no clue who the Architect was though.
Sebastian

Corporate campus architecture has been pretty mediocre since Kevin Roche stopped trying in the 1970s. The Google/SGI campus is a significant exception.

[tonton]

They must be using (Windws only) Autocad for the campus design. Delays, crashes, limitations... of course the campus will be late!

[Slewis]

Null.