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
Related Stories
| Jul 30, 2013
In support of workplace chatter
As the designers of collaborative work environments, architects and engineers understand how open, transparent spaces can cultivate the casual interaction and knowledge sharing that sparks innovation. Now a new study reveals another potential benefit of open workplaces: social interaction that supports happier employees.
| Jul 29, 2013
2013 Giants 300 Report
The editors of Building Design+Construction magazine present the findings of the annual Giants 300 Report, which ranks the leading firms in the AEC industry.
| Jul 25, 2013
3 office design strategies for creating happy, productive workers
Office spaces that promote focus, balance, and choice are the ones that will improve employee experience, enhance performance, and drive innovation, according to Gensler's 2013 U.S. Workplace Survey.
| Jul 25, 2013
How can I help you?: The evolution of call center design
Call centers typically bring to mind an image of crowded rows of stressed-out employees who are usually receiving calls from people with a problem or placing calls to people that aren’t thrilled to hear from them. But the nature of the business is changing; telemarketing isn’t what it used to be.
| Jul 23, 2013
Tell us how you're reimagining the medical office building
"Obamacare" implementation will add thousands of people to the ranks of the insured, including many who formerly sought primary care in emergency rooms. Now, these patients will have coverage that allows them to more easily access the typical treatment channels—and that means greater demand for services provided in medical office buildings.
| Jul 22, 2013
Top Office Sector Construction Firms [2013 Giants 300 Report]
Turner, Structure Tone, PCL top Building Design+Construction's 2013 ranking of the largest office sector contractors and construction management firms in the U.S.
| Jul 22, 2013
Top Office Sector Engineering Firms [2013 Giants 300 Report]
AECOM, Parsons Brinckerhoff, Jacobs top Building Design+Construction's 2013 ranking of the largest office sector engineering and engineering/architecture firms in the U.S.
| Jul 22, 2013
Top Office Sector Architecture Firms [2013 Giants 300 Report]
Gensler, HOK, Perkins+Will top Building Design+Construction's 2013 ranking of the largest office sector architecture and architecture/engineering firms in the U.S.
| Jul 22, 2013
Market gains encourage better workplace design [2013 Giants 300 Report]
The commercial office sector is finally heating up, led by corporate headquarter and medical office building projects.
| Jul 19, 2013
Reconstruction Sector Construction Firms [2013 Giants 300 Report]
Structure Tone, DPR, Gilbane top Building Design+Construction's 2013 ranking of the largest reconstruction contractor and construction management firms in the U.S.