At the turn of the millennium, open offices were heralded as the solution to “closed-door,” corner office culture.
But, as many of you have probably experienced, this newfound freedom-of-floorplan makes it d*mn near impossible to take an uninterrupted phone call, or just get some dang peace and quiet.
So, in a post-open-office dystopia, where do we turn?
A smaller, see-through office.
WALL BOX (because “phone booth” was already taken)
Created by interior design company VANK (a brand name meant to be whispered in an echo-y room), Wall Boxes are portable, soundproofed chambers with glass walls, built for up to 6 people.
The smallest Wall Box has a mere 3×4 footprint — small enough to induce claustrophobia, yet large enough (if the promo photos are to be believed) to practice some solo yoga. Perfect.
And, they’re not the only ones pitching this idea. You can buy a similar (albeit less aesthetically pleasing) knockoff of the WB for ~$3k on Alibaba.
Look, we get it, there’s no perfect solution
Gotta give VANK credit, they’ve managed to make a fish tank look like a pretty chill place to hold a meeting, and solved the problem of Sales interrupting your IT call with their victory gong again.
But, in a world where private space is hard to come by, a few opaque conference rooms are just fine with us.