Apple’s New Campus Name Revealed as Apple Park

[Maura]

Apple has today announced the name of its spaceship-shaped campus, which is nearing completion in Cupertino, California. The new 175-acre campus, which will be open for employees to start using in April, will be called Apple Park. Over a period of 6 months, more than 12,000 people will be moved into the campus, with building work still set to continue throughout the summer.

Apple says that Apple Park was “envisioned by Steve Jobs as a center for creativity and collaboration,” and in honour of Jobs’s vision, Apple also revealed that the new theater at Apple Park will be named the Steve Jobs Theater. The theater sits on top of a hill that is actually one of the highest points in Apple Park. It’s entrance is a 20-foot-tall glass cylinder.

Apple Park’s famous ring-shaped, 2.8-million-square-foot main building is covered by the world’s largest panels of curved glass.

“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 come,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “The 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.”

“Steve was exhilarated, and inspired, by the California landscape, by its light and its expansiveness. It was his favorite setting for thought. Apple Park captures his spirit uncannily well,” said Laurene Powell Jobs. “He would have flourished, as the people of Apple surely will, on this luminously designed campus.”

“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,” said Jony Ive, Apple’s chief design officer. “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.”

And if you’re wondering whether or not members of the public will be able to visit this magnificent campus, the answer is yes, with Apple also announcing that Apple Park will have a visitors’ center complete with Apple Store and café.

Sources: Apple, Apple’s spaceship campus officially named Apple Park; auditorium is Steve Jobs Theater [Gallery]