By John Tenanes, VP Global Facilities and Real Estate
As Facebook grows its headquarters in Menlo Park, California, we strive to create a unique workplace and be a good neighbor. Today we’re sharing details about our latest completed project, a new building we call MPK 21.
Designed by Frank Gehry and built in less than 18 months, MPK 21 is a highly sustainable building with a 3.6-acre rooftop garden featuring over 200 trees and a half-mile meandering pathway. We also brought the outdoors into the office space: The Town Square is a sheltered green space with 40-foot-tall redwood trees, and The Bowl is an amphitheater-style courtyard that connects MPK 21 with another Gehry-designed building, MPK 20.
Inside is an open workspace designed to foster collaboration between teams, as well as quiet areas for focused work. A single pathway runs the length of the building. Along this path are five unique dining options, 15 art installations commissioned through our Artist in Residence Program, and a 2,000-person event and meeting space with state-of-the-art A/V technology. The building was designed to promote teamwork and allow our people to do their best work.
MPK21 is designed to reduce impact on the environment and enhance employee well-being. The building encourages active engagement inside and outside of the building with pedestrian walkways, access to various outdoor areas, visible stairways, and flexible work stations. The physical infrastructure is designed to reduce water, energy, and waste as well. The reclaimed water system recycles and filter’s MPK21’s water and will save approximately 17 million gallons of water annually. The roof includes 1.4 MW of photovoltaic solar panels, which will generate nearly 2 million kWh of electricity annually. Additionally, bird-friendly glazing allows for clear views and natural daylighting, which reduces the need for artificial lighting during daylight hours. Finally, we enrolled in Peninsula Clean Energy’s ECO100 energy option to reduce our carbon footprint, helping Menlo Park reach its climate action goals. The building is also designed to achieve LEED Platinum certification through the US Green Building Council.
As we add offices in other cities in the Bay Area, we remain invested in Menlo Park, which will be our headquarters for the foreseeable future. It was important to us that MPK 21, which sits on a former unoccupied industrial site, be consistent with the natural environment and our neighboring communities. Next year we plan to complete a two-acre park with a public plaza and event space, which can host our Facebook Festivals, mobile farmers’ market and other local programs. A highlight of the project will be a community bike and pedestrian bridge over the Bayfront Expressway. This landmark feature will connect the neighborhood and our campus to recreational trails and parks along the San Francisco Bay.
We continue to work on creating equitable employment opportunities for our neighbors, such as through our local talent program Access and partnership with non-profit workforce development program Year Up. We’re exploring the feasibility of reopening the Dumbarton Transportation Corridor as a way to reduce roadway congestion for everyone. And we will keep making contributions that are responsive to what residents and local leaders tell us they need, such as a $20-million fund to create affordable housing, economic opportunity and tenant assistance.
Facebook stands for community. That commitment extends from our global community to our physical home in Menlo Park. With MPK 21 and our future expansion projects like the proposed Willow Village, we aim to continue to attract exceptional talent to help us build the best products and to be a responsible citizen in the region.
We worked with our architect partner Frank Gehry on a video describing our vision for MPK 21.