Menlo Park City Council Approves New Facebook Campus
MENLO PARK (KCBS) - The Menlo Park City Council voted unanimously to approve plans for a second Facebook campus on Wednesday.
The 433-thousand square campus, designed by renowned architect Frank Gehry, would mean $1.5 million in payments to the city over the next 10 years, according to the Silicon Valley Business Journal
Menlo Park City Council 'Likes' New Facebook Campus Plans; Votes 'Yes' To Proceed
Gehry is known for his bold design of modern buildings--such as downtown Los Angeles' Disney Concert Hall—but Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg asked the famous architect to keep the new campus low key.
"The idea of putting in an anonymous expression for Facebook, which is what their desire is as our client, is to really make the building very much blend in with landscape," Craig Webb, Gehry' creative partner, told the City Council.
The council also singed off on an environmental report stating that the benefits of the new campus outweigh any negatives—such as increased traffic and construction noise.
The West Campus building would sit on the 22-acre site at 312 and 313 Constitution Drive. It includes a tree-lined rooftop park and a tunnel underneath the Bayfront Express Way connecting it to the main campus.
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