Paul Carduner, site lead of Facebook's Seattle office, confirmed Wednesday they will move from their current offices in Denny triangle to a larger space off Dexter Ave., designed by famous architect, Frank Gehry. "We're committed to Seattle," Carduner said.
Facebook's current office employs 500 people in 96,000 square feet. The layout and environment live up to the lore: open offices, people standing at their desks, free dry cleaning, a hot tub filled with ball-pit balls, a cafeteria overlooking South Lake Union and an actual, Facebook wall with the signatures of people like Jay Inslee and the Nordstroms.
Facebook Seattle's work on the site's data storage and video capabilities, as well as more frequent collaborations with Microsoft, the Seattle branch of virtual reality bastion Oculus and many of Seattle's smaller tech firms means that, although their current office has three extra floors for Facebook to use, the space will soon run out.
Their new space will initially have 274,000 square feet, with the option of an additional 62,000 feet. The interior will be designed by Frank Gehry, the architect who designed Seattle's Experience Music Project. The building on Dexter is already built, so don't expect any new, amorphous structures. But Carduner said Gehry's office design will make for a unique flow within the office. "It will dictate how people can move between spaces." They will likely relocate to Dexter in early 2016.
With that extra space, Facebook will eventually employ over 2,000 people. Although, says Carduner, the hiring will not happen immediately, he was so confident in his office's expansion that he mentioned another move in 10 years. "We built our own building in Menlo Park, so it's possible we would build here as well," he said. For Seattle area techies, that gets a big "like."
