MPK Gateway

Interior Design for Core-shell Spec Office Building

Architect: WRNS Studio (Core-Shell Architect: Heller-Manus)

Location: Menlo Park, CA

Client:      Facebook 

Area:       500,000 sq ft

Status:    Completed 2020

Senior Designer through SD, DD, CD and CA. Project Architect role during the construction phase.

The work included test fits, design studies, continuous client presentations, consultants and branding coordination, construction drawings and details, City permits and plan check response submittals, and the complete CA process of contractor coordination, RFIs, submittals, site visits and punch walks.

 

A Facebook tenant improvement project of two core-shell spec office buildings - each eight floors high, connected by bridges. The twin structures are located on the Menlo Park water front, facing the Bay water and Bedwell Park.

The 500,000 sq ft interior construction consists of a varied and compehensive program. It includes conference rooms and day offices in various sizes and configurations per Facebook standards, two cafes with full commercial kitchen facilities, serveries and dining areas; salad Bar and sweets Shop, micro kitchens, event rooms, lobby spaces, employee amenity spaces, and libraries. 

Numerous work space test fits, horizontal and vertical circulation analysis, and continuous look and feel perspective studies were part of the lengthy and in-depth design process.

The client's principal concern - the buildings' and floor circulation - drove the conceptual program allocation and space design: The twin buildings are treated as one integrated entity, with activity hubs situated strategically to encourage connectivity and tie them together. Employee amenities are located on each side of the bridges, and the main cafes are placed on the ground floor, around a common landscaped courtyard. The event spaces are located on the second level, which is tied spatially to the food service ground floor with a new open stair. The 8th floor of each building houses a differnt smaller food hub - Salad bar on one and Sweets Shop on the other, each facing an open terrace. These focal points provide anchors that encourage movement, connections  and collaboration throughout the two buildings. 

Each individual floor plan in the parallel levels is organized in a Cross Roads of highways: The long hallways running parallel to the core, day lighted at both ends, lead to the bridges between the buildings, and the main connecting stairs. These are the key workspace circulation spines. Conference rooms island clusters are concentrated around the intersection of these highways with the main crossing corridor, at the center of the floorplan. The Mother's room, GNR and Copy room amenities are located in the crossing corridor. Open work space wraps around the conference rooms islands, facing the curtain walls. Within each building floor plan, a counterpoint activity/amenity zone consisting of the micro kitchen, conference rooms suite and libraries, is located near the main connecting staircase and bridges. 

The construction scopes consist of acoustic drywall, structural interventions, millwork throughout every part of the program, final finishes, and MEP new construction and integration with existing core-shell systems

Facebook's vision of an industrial, authentic and non-refined work enviroment, drove the interior materials composition. This included wide use of plywood in the public spaces, exposed, sealed concrete floors throughout - with epoxy graphic accents, steel, and paint. The overhead fireproofed steel beams, and MEP systems, are left exposed. The paint palette was influenced by the surrounding bay waterfront, which is colored by algea with hues of earthy and ocean tones. This palatte is carried throught the interior, manifesting in both the conference rooms island shades, the accent walls within them, the Libraries fabrics and carpeting, and the Micro kitchens laminate.

In the main Cafes and smaller food areas, the main materials - tile, white laminate and stainless steel - are set against a backgound of Branding graphics that create a central theme for each space.