Silence and Serendipity: Embrace the Pod-tastic Journey in Your Flexible Office

Written by DC in collaboration with One Eleven Design

July 25, 2023

Post Tagged in

Architecture, Engineering, Interior Design

You’re on the phone with a huge client and they’re about to make a really big decision. You’ve prepared documents and slides and talking points for weeks leading up to this phone call. It’s the phone call of your career. The client starts to talk, when suddenly, your colleague’s phone rings on the desk right next to yours. Your important conversation is immediately interrupted by a loud discussion about which pizza place your coworker wants to go to for lunch. What a disaster! Okay, so not every situation in the office is this drastic. But it can be a challenge to work in an open office environment.

Office settings, especially open offices, can be great. You can turn and collaborate with your neighbor without even taking a step! But one of the biggest challenges about working in an office can be the constant noise and interruptions when you just need focus time, or you need to take a call with a client. Clients don’t need to know your neighbor’s lunch plans, or hear about their latest golf game while they are trying to make an important decision or have a serious discussion.

Design Collaborative (DC) decided to give a more flexible work option a try, with several volunteers from their workplace team giving up their permanent desks and ‘hoteling’ at different locations throughout the office each day. With this trial plan taking place, DC wanted to offer some spaces that would give the team members some privacy for client phone calls, heads down work, or just time to think. Partnering with our friends at One Eleven Design, a local furniture and interior design firm, DC is trying out the Framery O, a soundproof phone booth that can offer privacy and a quiet place to work. What’s great about the Framery O?

“I like that it’s quiet and I can really focus on my work. It’s really nice that I can take a phone call in the booth and not feel like I’m disturbing others while I’m on the call.” – Dan Bayer (Architect), Design Collaborative.

This booth, and others like it, allow offices to embrace flexible workflows, offering more options for team members, whether in person or remote. You can feel comfortable taking a call with a client without worrying about your fellow team member loudly placing their lunch order right next to you. There are a variety of soundproof, portable booth options for offices that you may not even think of, more than just a single pod meant for phone calls. Keep reading to check out some of the other options from One Eleven Design that can make your office flexible and fun!

The Framery One: The world’s most advanced soundproof office pod.

This highly adaptable workspace has the latest technology, featuring leading sound insulation and ventilation, plus echo-free acoustics to let you focus on your work and connect online with people anywhere. Great for hybrid offices with remote workers! With DC’s hybrid work options available in our own office, we’re always looking for ways to make our designs more flexible to allow for every kind of worker.

“I’ve used the Framery O for remote client meetings. It’s really nice and quiet, and the grey background works really well for Teams or Zoom calls. Obviously, it shuts out distractions from the outside, but it also really benefits hearing the meeting participants because I don’t have to use ear buds. Private phone calls are also really easy to take in the Framery O.” Ron Dick (Architect, Partner), Design Collaborative.

Of course, the Framery O: The original soundproof official phone booth.

This booth delivers world-class soundproofing and echo-free acoustics – so you can talk in private without compromising sound quality.

“I like it because it’s a place where I know I won’t get interrupted. People don’t seem to bother you, and you don’t bother other people. It’s easy to focus in there. You almost forget there’s a world outside of it because it blocks out all the noise.” Mike Niezer (Architect, Partner), Design Collaborative

The Framery Q: The soundproof meeting pod for 1-4 people.

When we think of a soundproof pod, often the first thing we think of is a small phone booth-type space. But these pods can be made for multiple people! The Framery Q soundproof meeting pod is ideal for face-to-face or hybrid meetings, brainstorming sessions, and important conversations in private without disturbing the office—or the office disturbing you.

“At times, I’ve used the Framery O for just 5 minutes or so just to gather my thoughts on something. The quiet serenity of the Framery O is the perfect place for me to collect my thoughts and remember things (like what exactly was said in a meeting, etc) without the distractions of the office.” Cassidy Smith (Project Administrator), Design Collaborative

Last but not least, the Framery 2Q: The soundproof meeting room for teams up to 6.

This is a fully functional soundproof meeting room that supports your team when working in-person and online.

The possibilities are endless! Think about how you could make your office a comfortable, engaging space by offering flexibility for employees. Privacy, quiet, no interruptions…you can have all of this and still have the space for collaboration and open conversations! No more lunch plans or golf scores being discussed over the top of your important client meetings. There are limitless ways to make your office a destination for top notch work from top notch workers. Get in touch with designers to hear about more great options for your space!

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