Apple's New Campus Will Officially Open in April

Apple’s new campus is almost ready to open its doors.

Today, the Cupertino tech giant announced that its massive new 175-acre campus — along with its flagship 2.8 million-square-foot ring-shaped main building — will be ready for employees to begin occupying it in April. Construction of the remaining buildings and parklands is set to continue through the summer and it’s estimated that it will take over six months to fully move a workforce of more than 12,000 employees to the campus.

And, since the campus was originally envisioned by the late Steve Jobs (who would be celebrating his 62nd birthday this Friday, February 24), Apple has also announced that the theater at Apple Park will officially be known as the Steve Jobs theater. Slated to open later this year, glass and metallic carbon fiber auditorium will hold 1,000 seats and its situated atop a hill at one of the highest points on the campus, overlooking the surrounding meadows and main building. Said CEO Tim Cook:

Steve’s vision for Apple stretched far beyond his time with us. He intended Apple Park to be the home of innovation for generations to comeThe workspaces and parklands are designed to inspire our team as well as benefit the environment. We’ve achieved one of the most energy-efficient buildings in the world and the campus will run entirely on renewable energy.

Jony Ive, Apple’s chief designer officer, added:

Steve invested so much of his energy creating and supporting vital, creative environments. We have approached the design, engineering and making of our new campus with the same enthusiasm and design principles that characterize our products. Connecting extraordinarily advanced buildings with rolling parkland creates a wonderfully open environment for people to create, collaborate and work together. We have been extremely fortunate to be able to work closely, over many years, with the remarkable architectural practice Foster + Partners.

When complete, Apple Park will also be home to everything from an Apple Store and public cafe to a 100,000-square-foot employee fitness center, as well as secure research and development facilities. The Foster + Partners design will also be home to 9,000 native and drought-resistant trees and will be powered by 100% renewable energy thanks to 17 megawatts of rooftop solar power — one of the largest on-site solar energy installations on earth.