Facebook’s New Campus:

The Writing on a City’s Wall?

Photo © Bobbi Goodman: Designers, city planners, Facebook executives, and local residents brainstormed ways to connect the new Facebook campus with Menlo Park's Belle Haven neighborhood in ways that would benefit everyone. The 174-person design charrette helped untangle a variety of issues related to economic development, an adjacent wetland, and lack of public transit.

March 23, 2011 - Dear Menlo Park, you have a new notification. Facebook posted on your wall: We’re moving in! Isn’t there anything to do around here?

Thus the seed was planted for a large-scale design charrette aimed at finding ways to connect the new Facebook campus in an isolated industrial area of Menlo Park with the surrounding community—preferably in ways that would reduce the use of fossil fuels while benefiting both Facebook employees and city residents.

The new, 1 million-square-foot campus is really the old campus of Sun Microsystems, so its actual location is non-negotiable. But it’s more than a little ironic for a company that is all about making connections to surround itself on three sides by a high-speed expressway and an untouchable wetland, with no nearby retail and no public transit to speak of. Facebook doesn’t plan to stay socially isolated for long: it started networking with city planners almost immediately. During the charrette, organized by the local chapter of The American Institute of Architects (AIA) and involving the City of Menlo Park, Facebook, and interested citizens from nearby neighborhoods, four planning teams brainstormed ideas for building more infrastructure—ideas that could also stimulate the local economy and improve quality of life for folks already living in Menlo Park. {continued}