Facebook's slick new West Campus came one step closer to fruition on Monday when the Menlo Park Planning Commission approved the plan unanimously.
According to the San Jose Mercury News, the Commission rezoned the 22-acre site neighboring Facebook so the company could build the proposed 433,555-square-foot building, allowed the company to rename the conjoining road Facebook Way and approved the removal of up to 175 heritage trees to make way for the project.
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Facebook West
In exchange, Facebook agreed to either give the city $4.5 million for affordable housing or put up 15 affordable housing units.
The new campus will surely throw Facebook's name in the hat for coolest Silicon Valley office: the design was a collaboration between Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg and legendary architect Frank Gehry.
And while Yahoo is tightening the leash on unconventional working styles, it seems Facebook is doubling down.
For this project, Gehry worked closely with Zuckerberg and designed a space reflecting the 28-year old billionaire's un-hierarchical corporate philosophy.
The office will consist of a single, open warehouse-style space with engineers clustered into working groups and regularly dotted with conference rooms and break-away spaces. The building will include ramps to make it easier to get from one end of the campus to the other via skateboard.
"The idea is to make the perfect engineering space: one giant room that fits thousands of people all close enough to collaborate together," wrote Zuckerberg on his Facebook wall.
Menlo Park's City Council will give the final word on the project at a vote in late March, according to Patch.