Apple Retreats to the Suburbs

Nov. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc.’s stunning new Campus 2in Cupertino, California, will be one of Steve Jobs’ lastinglegacies when completed in 2015. For better or worse, he wasthinking differently to the end, striving for geographic self-sufficiency even as many other high-technology enterprisesacross the country were starting to return to city life. Willthis approach, and the complex that embodies it, renew Apple’sculture of excellence or retard it?

Costing an estimated $5 billion and covering 175 acres,with 2.8 million square feet of office space for 13,000employees, the doughnut-shaped building designed by NormanFoster may be the ultimate in green architecture. But the 700newly planted trees that will surround it are dual-use foliage.According to a planning document, Apple’s goal was to achieve“the security and privacy required for the invention of newproducts by eliminating any public access through the site, andprotecting the perimeters against trespassers.” Apple rejectedplans for trails around the periphery, and a Los Angeles Timesreporter claimed harassment by Apple security while journalistswere on what was still public property.