Facebook commissions Frank Gehry to design its new offices

Mark Zuckerberg's company has just appointed architect Frank Gehry to design its extension. Facebook describes the project as one vast open-plan space, akin to a warehouse, with plenty of amenities so that employees never go hungry. The new building will be linked to the existing one by a tunnel. Topped with a green roof, the new campus is to house nearly 2,800 engineers across 39,000 m².

The project is led by Craig Webb, an associate at Gehry Partners. Construction will begin in early 2013 and is due to finish in spring 2015.

At a time when the share price of the leading social network has halved, the announcement can be read as a publicity stunt. As a reminder, this week one of Facebook's earliest investors sold nearly four-fifths of its stake, an encouraging sign for investors, then…

After so many years and such turnover figures, it is clear that Facebook's sudden interest in architecture is a PR exercise. You can discover one of architect Frank Gehry's works. Otherwise, on somewhat more modest budgets, French architects also manage to produce architecture for the office sector.

Gallery