View From the Front Seat at Facebook’s Reveal of The Iconic New West Campus Building

The Menlo Park Planning Commission convened on Monday, September 24, 2012. Of particular interest was the “Conditional Development Permit, Rezoning, Lot Merger, Development Agreement, Environmental Review” – translated as the Facebook West Campus Expansion. 

The social media giant presented plans for an iconic building designed by the world-famous architect Frank Gehry.  Facebook made a request for a rezoning from M-2 (General Industrial District) to M-2-X (General Industrial, Conditional Development), Conditional Development Permit approval, and a lot merger to construct a 433,555 square foot single-story building above an at-grade parking lot.

The layout for the 22 acre site is exquisitely sensational, strategically brilliant, and yet unimposing as its fluid and organic design flows within its surrounding environment.  “It’s a large one-room building with no offices and cubicles that will allow the engineers to all be together,” said John Tenanes, Director of Global Real Estate at Facebook.

The West Campus will be filled with skylights in 26 foot high ceilings.  The sunshine illuminating the building will contribute to an oasis-like sensation, promoting intellectual creativity. Of course the sprawling area will contain Facebook’s signature cafes and micro-kitchens. The West Campus will even contain a twisting wooden staircase that will invite the projected 3,400 engineers up to a plush roof-top garden in the midst of Silicon Valley. Now, that’s definitely worth writing home about.