Facebook gets approval to build a low-key second campus

Facebook has just received the “go-ahead” to build a second campus in Menlo Park. Menlo Park’s city council, minus one member, voted 4-0 to allow Facebook to build its second campus. The new campus will be a 433,555 square foot building located on the other side of Facebook’s headquarters. It will be located on 312 and 313 Constitution Drive, just west of Bayfront Expressway.

The campus will be span across 22-acres of land. It will be designed by Frank Gehry, a renowned architect known for his work on the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, and his work on the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, California. However, unlike the flashy designs Gehry made for both the Guggenheim and Walt Disney Concert Hall, the design of the Facebook campus will be much more low-key.

Gehry’s creative partner, Craig Webb, stated, “They felt some of those things were too flashy and not in keep with the kind of culture of Facebook, so they asked us to make it more anonymous.” Surprisingly, Gehry was comfortable with designing a more low-key building. Facebook’s new campus will follow an eco-friendly design. It will have a rooftop garden, be hidden by the landscape, feature a park-like entrance accessible by the public, and will have an underground tunnel that connects it to Facebook’s other campus.

Webb stated, “Our intent is that it almost becomes like a hillside.” Many of the city council members were enthusiastic about the campus’s new design. One of the members, Kirsten Keith, stated that it’s very lucky for Menlo Park to have a building designed by Frank Gehry. Another member, Rich Cline, stated that he was impressed that Facebook’s rooftop park will also have oak trees. Construction for the campus is expected to start right away, and upon completion, the campus be able to accommodate up to 3,400 Facebook staff members.

[via Mercury News]