Apple’s plan to build a 2.8-million-square-foot campus in Cupertino, California could end up costing $5 billion, according to a report from Bloomberg.
The financial news service spoke with sources close to the project who say Apple executives are working with architectural firm Foster + Partners to cut $1 billon off the estimated cost before proceeding with construction. The estimated completion date for the circular headquarters is sometime in 2016.
If you’re wondering why the price tag is so steep, here are a few of the building’s specs via Bloomberg:
- The building will be two-thirds the size of the Pentagon and set among 176 acres of trees where today there are mostly parking lots;
- The curved exterior will be comprised of six kilometres worth of floor-to-ceiling panes of concave glass imported from Germany;
- There’s so much dirt to be removed, excavating the site will take six months and require a continuous, 24-hour convoy of trucks;
- The offices will be home to at least 12,000 employees;
- There will be multiple cafeterias, including one that could handle lunch for 3,000 employees;
- The grounds will include 15 acres of native California grassland and 309 different species of trees;
- To achieve its goals of a “net-zero energy” campus, the roof of the building will hold 700,000-square-feet of solar panels, enough to generate 8 megawatts of power. (That’s enough to power roughly 4,000 homes);
- Windows will automatically open or close to let in just the right amount of light, wind and fresh air to maintain a comfortable temperature;
- And like Apple’s products, Bloomberg reports that every wall, floor and ceiling is to be polished to a “supernatural smoothness”
Think the plan and $5 billion price tag is a bit ridiculous? It’s worth noting, as Bloomberg does, that Apple has $137 billion in cash reserves.
