News + Trends

For more mindfulness in the workplace

18.10.2019

Translation: machine translated

The manufacturer "ROOM" has redesigned the telephone booth. "Calm Booth" does not have a telephone, nor is it on the street. But it gives you a quiet space - without costing you anything.

If you thought phone booths were a thing of the past, you'd be wrong. The American company "ROOM" is now bringing them back. They are not located in public spaces, but in covered open-plan offices so that you can relax in them.

It's difficult to withdraw in an open-plan office. You often have to leave the building for a private conversation on your mobile phone or drown out noise with headphones. "Calm Booth" from ROOM wants to save you this stress. It gives you back your privacy in the open-plan office and not only that: in collaboration with "Calm", an award-winning Apple- and Android-app, the phone box becomes a meditation room.

Meditation is a way to find balance when stress levels are high. However, retreats for undisturbed meditation are usually lacking in open-plan offices. The redesigned telephone booth provides a place for such needs. You don't need coins to use it. But your employer will need the necessary change. A single telephone booth from ROOM costs around 4200 francs.

"Many companies in the USA have turned to us to develop better and more productive office environments," says Morten Meisner-Jensen, co-founder of ROOM. "The open office trend shows no signs of slowing down, and while the answer may not be a return to the cubicle, there is a significant need for employees to have peace and quiet amidst the chaos. Our soundproof phone boxes are just the first in a series of products we'll be launching in the near future to transform the way the world of work operates,

The design

The limited edition «Calm Booth» Image: ROOM.

The Calm app accompanies your meditation in the soundproof and ventilated booth. The mindfulness sessions are specially developed for the workplace. They include sounds of nature to help reduce stress and anxiety and aid concentration. The nature scenes are reflected in the design. A misty green forest print adorns the screen door. Calm Booth takes a sensory approach: frosted glass lets in natural light while ensuring privacy. A soft LED light and two quiet fans only switch on automatically when someone enters the booth.

Progress or regression?

Calm Booth shows how our current needs influence design. Today, we no longer need booths for their original purpose in public spaces. What we lack are places of retreat, especially in our hectic working lives. Open-plan offices are still so new that their realisation leaves a lot to be desired. In future, interior designers will have to recognise such gaps and close them. This is the only way to make open-plan offices more pleasant and help to keep employees happy and healthy.

Return of the phone booth

What do you think about Calm Booth?

I would love to have one in my office too.
64%
If phone booths make a comeback, let it be outdoors.
4%
Nonsense. There are better ways to calm down.
32%

The competition has ended.

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1 person likes this article.

Pia Seidel

Senior Editor

Pia.Seidel@digitecgalaxus.ch

Like a cheerleader, I love celebrating good design and bringing you closer to everything furniture- and interior design- related. I regularly curate simple yet sophisticated interior ideas, report on trends and interview creative minds about their work.

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