The new Facebook headquarters looks like a cross between high-art, 21st century corporate thinking and a child's candy-fueled daydream.
Facebook officially moved to a vast 430,000 square foot campus this week, expanding on its old digs nearby in Menlo Park, California. The office complex was designed by famed architect Frank Gehry and includes modern artwork and furniture, stairwells that look like something out of the Guggenheim museum, a 9-acre rooftop park (hate where you work yet?) and at least one meeting room that looks like the multicolored Chuck E. Cheese ball pit.
It also has what CEO Mark Zuckerberg described in a post on his personal Facebook page as "the largest open floor plan in the world," reflecting a trend in tech and other industries to boost collaboration among employees.
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The social media company isn't the only tech giant upgrading its (already impressive) offices. Apple is currently building a large new campus that looks like a spaceship and Google has put out a plan to develop a new space that looks like what you probably see when you exit that spaceship in the future.
Call it the perk of fast-growing Silicon Valley businesses that make banks look like skinflints. Facebook's headquarters, in particular, is intended to house about 2,800 people -- using the word "house" literally here, as the space is filled with enough nice perks to ensure that employees feel comfortable staying on campus longer.
Facebook isn't putting out many official pictures of the headquarters as employees are still moving in, but many employees and visitors have shared photos of the space on Instagram and Facebook.
#mpk20 A photo posted by Scott Shapiro (@scottshapiro23) on Mar 30, 2015 at 4:18pm PDT
Love this piece from @fbairprogram. Reminds me of that song from Empire. #dripdrop #mpk20 #vscocam A photo posted by Shali Nguyen (@shali) on Mar 30, 2015 at 5:59pm PDT
Cool new rooftop garden! A photo posted by Matt Jones (@mkjones) on Mar 30, 2015 at 7:54pm PDT
Facebooking on the giant #rooftop #teepee swing. #roofgarden #mpk20 #menlopark #siliconvalley #whereiwork A photo posted by Connie (@conniec) on Mar 30, 2015 at 10:30pm PDT
I can't stop loving all this new artwork #mpk20 #facebook A photo posted by Alissa (@alissa_isms) on Mar 30, 2015 at 10:51am PDT
New office :) A video posted by Andy Huang (@andrewjhuang) on Mar 30, 2015 at 6:00pm PDT
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