In recent blogs, we showed how doubts about the one-size-fits-all open-plan office have been beginning to grow in recent years. Now, into the middle of the debate lands the Coronavirus bomb. What are employers and office designers to do?
We think there will be two contrasting reactions. The more sophisticated companies, with a higher proportion of creatives or the high-performing employees we mentioned earlier will attempt to re-configure their spaces, spread the desks out and introduce new routes through the spaces. They will bring in automatic doors and technologies that remove the need to touch things together with protocols for who can approach whom and when.
Other firms will bring in the facilities teams and attempt to separate workers physically. They haven’t talked about this publicly but they must be thinking about it. UK firm Panel screens has seen an 86% increase in orders, mostly from larger multi-site companies.
Obviously, we think there is a role for our product, Spacer Pods, in all this. They are the ideal way to introduce a little bit of separation. Somewhere to re-charge the batteries. A place to go and do a few hours of real, high-value work. They offer the employer a chance to boost productivity while improving the satisfaction, loyalty and well-being of their staff.
Spacer Pods are a new product designed for between one and six people to work free from distraction in an oasis of calm. Additionally, they can be used to provide a quiet place for meditation or to wind down from stress.
The beauty of the Spacer Pod lies in its design. This is not some pokey side room nor is it something run up with a quick partition. This is something for a creatively designed office. It has stylish curves. It fits into the groove-scape of the modern work-place. It’s portable. It takes its independent place among the usual work desks and breaks them up, shakes them up.
They are well-engineered with quality materials, robust and hard-wearing while offering superb levels of sound-proofing and protection against vibration. They each have their own power supply and air-conditioning. They take the flexible work environment to a new level. Together with the desk and the sofa, they are set to become another essential module in the designer’s box.
They can be furnished in a great variety of styles to suit an endless range of uses and functionality including web-casting, quiet reflection, brain-storming, working to a deadline…
Spacer Pods is a product with the potential to spread like mushrooms. The more people who see them, or better still, use them, the more they will come to be seen as a necessity. Soon every office will have one, two or fifty. In some places, workers will spend nearly half their time in one, combining the power of open-plan with personal, productive space.
Remember, these amazing little power houses of employee satisfaction are PORTABLE. They can adapt to changing work patterns, changing work cycles and growing companies. They can be made to fit the needs of the moment.
This is a great new product, with an efficient and responsive team behind it. Why not be one of the first to try it?
