Apple Campus 2 Visitor Center Will Include Cafe, Store and Rooftop Observation Deck

Apple is planning to build a visitor's center on its new "spaceship" campus, which will include a rooftop observation deck that overlooks the main building, a cafe, and a 10,114 square-foot store where visitors will be able to "view and purchase the newest Apple products."

The structure, like many of Apple's retail stores, will be made of glass with a carbon fiber roof and large skylights. Stairs and elevators will take visitors up to the viewing deck, where the ring-shaped building housing Apple employees will be visible. Apple's current campus included a now-closed store that sold Apple-branded apparel and sundries, but a dedicated visitor's center with a store selling Apple products will be a new addition.

Details on the visitor's center were found by Silicon Valley Business Journal in documents that were filed with the city of Cupertino back in April. Previous approvals for the campus included mention of a visitor's center in a glass building, but details on the interior of the building were not available until this year.

According to the plans, Apple aims for the visitor's center at 10700 N. Tantau to "create a public face of the Apple Campus 2 that reflects Apple's business and design practices, and allows for a long-term presence in Cupertino." (Neighbors will be glad to know that a screen will block views onto an adjacent single-family-home community.) Parking will be mostly below grade with 684 spaces, with elevators taking visitors into the center.

Construction on Apple's second campus is still underway. Video footage shot in June suggests the foundation has been finished, with the first walls of the ring-shaped structure going up. Work on a nearby underground parking facility is also nearing completion. Apple is planning to finish construction on the main building in late 2016.

When complete, the new campus will feature a 2.8 million square foot ring-shaped main building, an underground aprking lot, a 100,000 square foot fitness center, and a 120,000 square foot 1,000-seat auditorium for hosting events, and the newly-described visitor's center.