ZEN POD
Design Staffan Holm
”Offers more than just peace and quiet”
Designed by Staffan Holm, Zen Pod is for spaces where people often meet and move about — whether in a university, a hospital, or a modern office complex. Zen Pod is an acoustic oasis. It creates the perfect conditions for digital meetings, quiet conversations and focused work. Its outer acoustic walls also help to improve the soundscape of the surrounding environment by absorbing, rather than reflecting, ambient noise.
The room is easy to assemble and use, and is designed to blend in with its surroundings. The sparse and harmonious design of the room itself is inspired by Japanese interiors.
That Zen Pod is being launched right now is no coincidence. It is a product that is ideally matched to the time in which we live — a time marked by great changes to the way we work. We are witnessing the emergence of hybrid workplaces made up of a variety of situational environments to suit different purposes and preferences – from centralised offices, satellite offices and home offices to digital spaces and co-working spaces, in both urban and rural settings. This is not to say that the office environment as a concept has become obsolete. Instead, the office will be designed around what are already its greatest strengths — as a place for fostering community and creativity, and as a venue for holding in-person meetings and building a strong corporate culture.
Spaces for creativity and dialogue need to be balanced with places for solitary reflection and concentration. To open the door to Zen Pod is to step into just such a place — quiet, secure and hospitable. Yet, Zen Pod is more than merely a retreat, a place to catch one’s breath. More than just peace and quiet. It is a space to be enjoyed — elegantly and sparingly designed using welcoming, sympathetic materials such as wood, wool, glass, aluminium and steel.
Designer Staffan Holm has worked hard to create a room that is welcoming and doesn’t feel the least bit cramped. “Completely silent rooms can be quite uncomfortable. Zen Pod allows you to sense the surrounding environment without being disturbed by it. The room is quiet; not isolating,” says Holm. Its ventilation is highly effective, yet quiet and vibration-free. The ventilator fan is positioned in the ceiling next to the lighting, thus making it barely visible at all. Zen Pod isn’t a room you want to leave after you’ve done what came to do — but one in which you’re quite happy to stay for a while. Its lines and square composition reflect Japanese aesthetic influences – that become particularly evident with the addition of the beautiful slatted oak wall, which is easily fitted to the room’s glass wall. It’s a solution that enhances the aesthetic experience, improves privacy and positively impacts the soundscape outside the room.
