Udemy Offices – San Francisco
RMW architecture + interiors has developed the new offices of online educational company Udemy located in San Francisco, California.
Udemy (the Academy of You) educates more than 10 million students through online courses, empowering everyday experts to share their knowledge with the world. RMW architecture & interior’s design for the company’s 40,000-square-foot offices in San Francisco reflects this mission by blending the spirit of a schoolhouse with the energy of a high-tech start-up.
Programmed specifically to support Udemy’s culture of “marketplace” learning, the offices feature an all-hands area with a stage, tables, screens, and bleachers that can accommodate Udemy’s 200-plus employees. The angled wood ceiling element is designed so that it is intimate enough for daily use as a casual café setting or as a proscenium-like backdrop for all-hands meetings. Interaction over meals is core to Udemy’s culture, so an adjacent kitchen has heated counter tops to keep catered food warm, as well as a massive snack pantry.
As befits a universal education firm, the office environment is open and flexible, with sit-stand benching supported by enclosed and open collaborative spaces of various sizes. Small neighborhoods create communities within the larger environment, identified by collaborative hubs that are minimal in their architectural design but big on character. Meeting spaces are located on circulation paths to increase opportunities for chance encounters and cross-collaboration, but door openings are strategically placed to reduce noise — an important factor considering the large amount of virtual collaboration Udemy’s employees do. With its variety of open, flexible zones, and paths that open onto daylight, Udemy’s offices function like a higher-ed campus in a high-rise.
Design: RMW architecture & interiors
Photography: Jasper Sanidad
