After a year of WFH, our expectations of privacy are forever changed. The Flowspace Pod addresses these new needs, offering a soft felt covered alcove of privacy + productivity, as designed by the Microsoft Office Envisioning Team.

For many of us who’ve spent the last year and then some working from home, returning to the communal workspace also arrives with a deeper appreciation for privacy. While team interactions are vital for creativity, so too is privacy required for productivity (alongside creativity). Which makes Microsoft’s Flowspace Pod an enticing proposition where a modicum of privacy can always be an option throughout the workday within a team-based office/studio environment.

Designed by Microsoft Office Envisioning Team led by Anton Andrews, and the winner of a 2021 Best of the Best Red Dot Award, the Flowspace Pod’s soft felt cocoon houses what appears to be a super-sized Surface Studio-style screen paired with a shallow desk and stool setup. Backlit LED lighting adds ambiance, while adjustable privacy side screens are available to emerge like elephant ears from the pod’s sides when even more privacy is required.
The simply furnished layout seems to imply this workspace isn’t intended for permanent stationing, but instead envisioned as an occasional refuge when searching for a bit of solitude. Or as described by the team itself, a “sanctuary for focus and deep work in highly collaborative hybrid workplaces where...