SAP Development Centre, Turkey

MUUM was commissioned to design a creative, innovative and flexible ambience for the SAP Development Centre, and with Optim Obermeyer leading the project management, they conveyed the characteristic qualities of Istanbul to reflect the corporate values of SAP.

As the central theme was “design thinking”, the designers aimed to create a garage atmosphere that would motivate the users with a sense of incompleteness. Another criteria was to use flexible furniture so as to reshape the office based on daily requirements. The layout is arranged on the theme of the city square, unlike the accustomed individual offices and open plan working areas. A large shared area is designed, including a cafeteria, with the individual identities of thematic sections enhanced by means of local, cultural and social touches.

This area offers different opportunities for socializing and simultaneously offers a flexible technological infrastructure making it possible to function as a shared working area. A long corridor is given the character of a main street in Istanbul, encompassing seating areas that enable people to work and communicate in friendly surroundings. Artistic Istanbul silhouettes on the walls further emphasize the Istanbul theme. Small rooms on the “Street” are named after Istanbul’s best known parks, such as Gezi, Bebek and Macka, and are designed as private working areas for one or two users.

Four working areas named after old areas of Istanbul-Beyoglu, Kadikoy, Balat ve Karakoy were also planned for the software developers who are the main users of the space. The aim of the thematic design is to offer appropriate alternatives for different working requirements and by enabling users to experience Istanbul in a symbolic sense and enable them to establish links with local values. Thanks to its flexible infrastructure and movable furniture, the project area enables users to completely reevaluate and reorganise their approaches, strategies and methods daily.