Cafe Borrone and Keplers, Menlo Park, CA

Cafe Borrone and Keplers, Menlo Park, CA
Originally uploaded by gojanelin

This mixed use building in Menlo Park was designed to be the town square. It is located a busy section of El Camino Real between Menlo Avenue and Santa Cruz Avenue. There are three active uses at the ground floor, BBC Pub, Cafe Borrone, and Kepler's Bookstore. People come to relax in a generous plaza that feels civic and spacious. It is approximately 75' from El Camino Real (where El Camino is 2 lanes each way, instead of the standard 3 lanes each way). While this may be one of the slowest sections of El Camino, it still moves along. The space is roughly 100' wide, which is a comfortable stage from which to watch people and the cars driving by. The two stories on top are commercial office space, and below there is underground parking. Behind the building is the Menlo Park Caltrain Station. It is one of the most urban examples of progressive development in the Bay Area.