Phone booths and meeting pods for coworking spaces in the Philippines

What members need private space for

Coworking members spend much of the day on calls: with clients, with their own teams, in interviews. On an open floor those calls disturb the people around them, and the people around them disturb the calls. A space with nowhere to take a call gives members a reason to look elsewhere.

That makes the one-person Solo Pod the size most coworking floors need most. The Duo and Team pods fill a different gap: interviews, 1:1s and small meetings that would otherwise take a full meeting room.

Walk-in or bookable?

There are two ways to run them, and one space can use both:

• Walk-in phone booths work well for the Solo size. Calls are short and unplanned, and a booking step slows people down. Treat them as part of the membership.
• Bookable meeting pods suit the Duo and Team sizes. Meetings are planned, last longer, and can be sold by the hour as an add-on or included in higher membership tiers.

Whichever you choose, make it obvious whether a pod is free. The pods’ lights and fans come on by motion sensor when someone steps in, so a lit pod is usually an occupied one.

Pods compete with desks

Floor rent in BGC, Makati, Ortigas or Cebu IT Park is high, and every square metre given to a pod is a desk not sold. Count the cost honestly:

• A Solo Pod takes 1.10 m², plus a walkway.
• A Duo Pod takes 2.14 m².
• A Team Pod takes 3.61 m², against the nine to twelve square metres a built four-person room usually needs.

The case for pods is strongest where they replace something larger. A Team Pod in place of a built meeting room gives floor area back. A row of Solo Pods along a wall that would otherwise be a corridor costs very little in desk space.

Where to put them

• Booths near the hot desks, where calls happen, so people do not cross the floor to reach one.
• Meeting pods near reception if members bring visitors, so guests are not walked through the working floor.
• Near power, clear of fire routes, and out of strong afternoon sun, since the pods are ventilated by their own fans, not the building’s aircon.

Pods move when the floor changes

Coworking floors get reorganised often: a private office becomes open desks, a new client takes a whole wing. Pods sit on levelling feet with concealed wheels, so they can be repositioned, or dismantled and moved to another site. A built room stays where it was built. For an operator running more than one location, pods are equipment that can follow demand.

Ordering for more than one site

For several pods or sites, see multi-unit orders, or use the floor planner to check how many pods fit on a floor before you ask for a quote.