Meetings don’t need meeting rooms

The open office plan we know and love ( some of us at least ), hasn’t truly embraced its name. From its inception till the current day, open offices still have to deal with a remnant of traditional workspace design that simply won’t go away – meeting rooms. 

But the workspace brands we know and love are challenging the notion of meeting rooms. The belief that focus or private work cannot be accomplished without meeting rooms is being subtly disputed. We’re starting to see alternatives to meeting rooms finding their way into corporate offices in the form of booths, pods, and other innovative furniture designs. These products not only provide an excellent alternative to meeting rooms, but deliver a great experience and ROI over the course of their life. 

If you’re interested but not totally convinced, here’s a list of six products worth considering.

Haworth’s focus on simplicity drives the design for BuzziRing, a wall-mounted, compact and temporary work or meeting space designed with open-plan offices in mind. It is acoustically well-balanced on the inside, being an ideal space for short meetings or catching up on emails You can also ensure social distance by ordering the optional transparent screen. Additionally, it’s upholstered-foam body can absorb the sound waves from crowded environments and prevent them from bouncing back into the room.

This lightweight pod resembling a dome will surely turn heads. Synergy is a stand-alone architectural “space within a space” with great acoustic properties suited for meetings and brainstorming sessions, reception lobbies and even hospitality spaces such as restaurants to create private cocoons. It is lightweight and delivers a large visual impact, all while maintaining a relatively quiet zone with superior acoustic comfort. The faceted faces absorb reverberated sound, deflecting and diffusing from all angles, offering a space of acoustic calm internally while reducing external sound attenuation.

Designed in partnership with British icon, Anglepoise, Bisley’s Quarters is a flexible family of sheltered working spaces that serve several functions. Be it a private working area, meeting zone, or simply a spot to socialize, Quarters brings a sense of peace and belonging to an office environment. Staying true to their original product, it also comes with a secure personal storage embedded for easy access.

Wood is a proactive approach to planters, focusing on creating an engaging and healing environment. If meetings don’t need meetings rooms, then planters don’t need to be, well, just planters.  Available in low, mid, and high height levels, it is designed to effectively serve as a partition. It is also equipped with either glides or castors that function as elegant, mobile alternatives to live walls.  Despite its simple design, it invigorates the workplace with natural energy, whilst plants help maintain acceptable acoustic levels without the need for acoustic panels. With five shelf options, there’s a lot of scope for creativity with plants. Woods brings with it an exciting new feature to open offices we’ve not seen before.

The team at Boss Design went back to the drawing board with one thought – how do we design a simple flexible product that maintains the functional and aesthetic qualities of successful meeting products without the complications of unsuccessful ones. That’s where Portal comes in. Designed to enable collaboration on the go, this fully wired mobile multimedia unit ensures you have everything you need when your next idea sparks.

Even if you don’t have a meeting room, you’ll still want an Ola conference table. The focal point of this beautiful design by Martex are the two bases made of Cristalplant®;  they are single block bases in mineral filler and polyester resin with an acrylic base, with a variable cross-section thickness to optimize weight and structural stability. No matter what your office design, Ola is sure to add in a modern luxury element to your space.