It is ten past two on a Tuesday and the only meeting room on the floor is booked until four. One account manager is taking a client call in the fire stairs. Another is whispering through a video interview in the print room, laptop balanced on a box of paper. Building more rooms means landlord approval, a builder and a floor plan you cannot change later. Acoustic pods and office phone booths solve the same problem with furniture instead of walls.
This guide compares open booth seating, single-person phone booths and meeting pods from the acoustic pods and phone booths range, and lists the specs worth reading before you order.
Booth seating, phone booths or meeting pods?
The first question is whether the space needs a door. Open booths wrap sound-absorbing panels around the seats, which softens a conversation and cuts visual distraction. Enclosed pods add walls, a roof and a door to hold a voice in and keep office noise out.
If the conversation is confidential, or someone will be on video, buy a door. For focused work or a casual catch-up, an open booth costs far less.
| Type | Best for | Door and roof | Air and light | In this guide |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Open booth seating | Two to four people, informal meetings | No | The room's own | Willow Booth, from $2,224 |
| Screened workpoint | One person, focused laptop work | No | The room's own | Motion Shell 1, $4,732 |
| Single phone booth | Calls, video meetings, confidential tasks | Yes | Built-in fan and lighting | Phonebooth, FocusCapsule and FocusPod, $8,439 to $11,349 |
| Meeting pod | Two to four people, interviews, team calls | Yes | Built-in fan and lighting | FocusHub, $18,711 |
Open booths: absorb the noise, keep the floor open
The Willow Booth (from $2,224) is the simplest way in. It comes as a 2-seater or a 4-seater on a black base, in three two-tone upholstery colours: Charcoal/Onyx, KellyGreen/Onyx or Niagara/Onyx. As pictured, the 4-seater wraps two facing benches in tall upholstered panels on three sides; the listing does not name a table.
For one person, the Motion Shell 1 ($4,732) wraps a worktop in a screen of Motion Felt wool-blend upholstery over multi-density acoustic foam. The screen is independently tested to NRC 0.76, listed as capturing 76 per cent of the sound that hits it. The worktop comes in Lacquered White or Solid Beech, the felt in 10 colours, and the warranty runs 10 years.
NRC measures absorption: how much sound a surface soaks up, not how much it stops passing through. So an open booth makes a call less intrusive for the neighbours without making it private. More open options sit in the breakout and booth seating collection.
Single-person phone booths: six specs to read
An enclosed booth is a small room, so judge it like one:
- Acoustic materials: named materials or a test result.
- Ventilation: a fan, ideally with a stated airflow.
- Lighting: sensor-controlled, and bright enough for video.
- Power: outlets and USB at the desktop.
- Door: the glass type and how far it swings.
- Footprint and height: external for the floor plan, internal for the person.
The Phonebooth ($8,439) is the lowest-priced enclosed option here. Behind a toughened glass door it has acoustic panels, a bench for a laptop, a motion sensor, a light, an extraction fan, and a GPO and USB outlet. The interior measures 962mm wide, 1,000mm deep and 1,965mm high, so check the headroom for your tallest staff. It comes in Grey/White or Grey/New Oak, with a 10 year warranty that excludes electrical components.
The FocusCapsule 1 Person Acoustic Phone Booth ($10,136) publishes more numbers. Steel wall panels lined with sound-absorbing PET sit in an aluminium frame, with Class B sound insulation and a listed score of 26.9 from an ISO-standard SGS test. A motion sensor runs the ambient lighting and a fan that replaces 90 cubic metres of air an hour. It stands 950mm square and 2,200mm high, with two power sockets, a USB-C and a USB-A.
The FocusPod ($11,349) keeps the same construction, sound rating and fan on a larger 1,200mm by 1,050mm footprint. The extra money buys elbow room and an electric height-adjustable tabletop. That matters when people work inside for an hour, not just take a call.
Meeting pods for two to four people
When the shortage is meeting rooms, the FocusHub ($18,711) is a room you can order. Outside it measures 2,200mm wide, 1,200mm deep and 2,200mm high, with 2,070mm of internal width. The fan doubles to 180 cubic metres of air an hour, and the 700mm by 600mm tabletop sits 750mm high. The door is 11mm laminated glass on hidden hinges and opens to 95 degrees, so leave it room to swing.
The screen shown in the image is not included, and the listed specifications name the tabletop but no seating. The glazed front keeps a meeting visible from the floor, so turn the pod away from desks for interviews or performance reviews.
Where to put acoustic pods on the floor
Put a pod where the calls already happen, because a booth at the far end of the floor tends to sit empty. Keep it off the main walkway so the door does not open into traffic, and measure the ceiling there, including bulkheads and ducts.
Shared-desk offices need more quiet spots per person, because nobody has a regular desk to retreat to. The guide to hot desking furniture covers the rest of that setup.
A pod does nothing for the echo of the room around it. On a floor of glass and polished concrete, treat a wall as well. Autex Peel N Stick Acoustic Tiles ($373) are 600mm square and rated NRC 0.40, and a pack of six covers 2.16 square metres with no glue, tools or framing. More formats are in acoustic wall panels.
Getting a pod into an Australian office
Many Australian offices are leased, and that is the quiet argument for pods. A built room often has to be removed under a make-good clause when the lease ends, while a pod is furniture and leaves with you.
Deliveries go to the ground-floor entrance, and goods arrive flat-packed unless the product page says assembled. The Phonebooth arrives flat packed in 10 cartons that fit most lifts, and assembly takes two people two hours. Its listing notes that simple electrical work is required, so book a licensed electrician.
The steel pods are heavier freight. The FocusCapsule's listed packing is 2,330mm long with a gross weight of 435kg, and the FocusHub's is 2,380mm long and 775kg. Measure the goods lift and check its rated load before the truck arrives.
Each product page has a Delivery line naming its metro cities: the Focus pods list Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide, while the Phonebooth is not available for delivery in WA. In a Brisbane or Perth summer, keep a glass-fronted pod out of direct western sun, where the fan can only move warm air.
A pod with a roof sits under the building's sprinklers and smoke detectors, so show the building manager where it will stand before you order. If the purchase is tied to the end of the financial year on 30 June, start that conversation early.
Acoustic pods — frequently asked questions
Are acoustic pods soundproof?
No, acoustic pods reduce sound and do not eliminate it, because some always passes through door seals and the ventilation path. The Focus pods list Class B sound insulation, and the Phonebooth lists internal walls that absorb 75 per cent of sound waves.
How much space does an office phone booth need?
A single-person booth needs about one square metre of floor, plus room for the door to open. The FocusCapsule is 950mm square and 2,200mm high, and its door opens to 95 degrees.
Do office phone booths need ventilation?
Yes, an enclosed booth needs a fan, because a closed box with a person inside soon turns warm and stuffy. Look for a stated airflow: the FocusCapsule and FocusPod list 90 cubic metres of air an hour, and the FocusHub lists 180.
How much do acoustic pods cost?
In this guide, prices run from $2,224 for open booth seating to $18,711 for an enclosed meeting pod. Single-person enclosed booths sit between $8,439 and $11,349, and a screened workpoint without a door is $4,732.
Shop the range
Start with acoustic pods and phone booths for enclosed options, or breakout and booth seating for open booths.
- Willow Booth (from $2,224): open booth seating for two or four people
- Motion Shell 1 ($4,732): one-person focus workpoint with a screen tested to NRC 0.76
- Phonebooth ($8,439): lowest-priced enclosed booth, flat packed in 10 cartons
- FocusCapsule ($10,136): compact 950mm square booth for calls and video meetings
- FocusPod ($11,349): roomier single booth with an electric height-adjustable tabletop
- FocusHub ($18,711): enclosed meeting pod for interviews, reviews and team calls
- Autex Peel N Stick Acoustic Tiles ($373): pinnable wall tiles that cut echo around a pod
Metro delivery is a flat $75 per order, and prices include GST.
