Software giant SAP opens engineering academy for its global engineering workforce

Software giant SAP has opened its new SAP Academy for Engineering on the company’s San Ramon, Calif. campus. Designed by HGA, the Engineering Academy will provide professional development opportunities for SAP’s global engineering workforce. 

At the Engineering Academy, cohorts from SAP offices across the globe will come together for intensive, six-month training programs. These innovators and thought leaders will then carry their new insights to the rest of the organization. 

At almost 57,000 sf, the facility includes flexible project rooms for teamwork and coding caves for more private deskwork. Other spaces include a high-tech virtual reality room, a creativity room with a touch-screen table, a central auditorium called The Arena, a café and lounge, and a museum of successful innovations. At the Academy Pledge Wall, graduates take an engineer’s pledge to promote the Academy’s values in their professional community.

“SAP’s relentless commitment to advancing the culture of engineering inspired our design of the Academy for Engineering,” Lisa Macaluso, principal and national interior design business development leader at HGA and the project’s lead, said in a statement. “Consequently, our design encourages and celebrates lifelong learning.”

Along with consulting partner Purple, HGA infused SAP’s history and values of craftsmanship, curiosity, courage, compassion, and community into the Academy’s design. For example, the facility walls showcase SAP’s earliest code, while the café boasts locally sourced tiles and a lakeside view.

With a collection of rare books by Nobel Prize laureates, the Academy’s museum also reminds employees of SAP’s purpose and values. And the central, circular Arena emphasizes the values of curiosity and community by placing speakers at eye level with the audience.

On the Building Team:
Owner and developer: SAP
Architect: HGA
Structural engineer: HGA
General contractor/construction manager: Source Construction, Inc.
Curriculum/user experience consultant: Purple