You Can Lock Out The World In This Tiny Office Pod
Get some (literal) peace and quiet in this groundbreaking design
Have you ever wanted to lock yourself in a room because of your officemate’s incessant babbling? Or is your “conference room” a vacant cubicle, and holding a presentation there means all of your corporate secrets are within earshot of everybody?
Finland-based acoustics company Framery created a solution to noisy office problems like these with their O phone booth—which is not necessarily a phone booth, but more like a soundproof private space and pod. If the whole idea sounds crazy at first, do take note that Microsoft’s head office has replaced their meeting rooms with these casual, but more efficient, pods.
We locked ourselves inside an O phone booth at Nordik Concept’s showroom at LRI Design Plaza to test it out, and here’s what we experienced:
It’s like in you’re in the office, but you won't feel like you're in the office
Framery’s design partly came from the “open office” trend, wherein there are no enclosed rooms or cubicles within an office floor.
One of the principles and key beliefs of Framery, according to their website's blog, is that “silence creates efficiency,” and that “according to academics, people who work in open offices feel usually (sic) less motivated, are less satisfied and less productive…main reason is constant noise and interruptions.” The O phone booth is their solution to this; you can literally block out the noise by escaping into a “room,” but you’re still there!
It’s comfortably soundproof
We tested it in the showroom—once we entered the booth and closed the door, though there is a wee bit of ambient noise, you couldn’t hear anyone outside (and they can’t hear you). This is a perfect place to hold confidential meetings and powwows, or simply use as a quiet spot to decompress.
It’s well ventilated (and there’s WiFi)
This is not like one of those suffocating little phone booths from the ’80s (Google it if you’re too young to remember). The O phone booth has ventilation holes integrated into its “ceiling,” meaning you can breathe (whew) and the office air conditioning can comfortably enter and circulate within the booth.
There are provisions for LAN and one to three outlets for your laptop and other gadgets, so you will never be bored.
It’s movable
Unlike typical conference rooms and cubicles that are permanent, the O phone booth can be uprooted at a moment’s notice. Feeling lonely but still want some peace and quiet? Put the booths together, or one in front of the other, so you can wave at your best bud while finishing your Powerpoint slides.
The possibilities are endless
Framery allows you to customize the O phone booth according to your needs with their furniture and modular parts, from the MeTime booth for one person, to the Betty’s Café, which can accommodate two lounge chairs and a side table (great for coffee breaks!). The laminate can be customized as well, and the colors run the gamut from a corporate gray to a sweet Millennial pink.
If you think about it, the possibilities with the O phone booth are endless, and not restricted to offices. It could become a tiny videoke room! A gaming room! A place to hide from the kids at home! But one of the variants of the booth—the Nap Q (above)—is our favorite. Its center table drops down to create a small bed, transforming it into the perfect, quiet nap room.
You can order a Framery O phone booth locally at Nordik Concept, 1/F, LRI Design Plaza, 210 Nicanor Garcia St., Makati City, tel. (02) 625-5936
