Join us at the Orgatec Hushoffice stand once again… for a virtual walk-through

Hushoffice at the Orgatec

• Orgatec 2024 gathered 729 exhibitors from 40 countries on a total of as much as 140,000 square metres! Clearly, the acoustic work and meet pod category aligned with this year’s theme, as it was represented by 75% more exhibitors of acoustic booths in comparison with the previous event!
• The Hushoffice stand centred around neurodiversity and inclusivity in the workplace, which was visually accentuated by a number of features at the stand specially designed for the fair. Visitors could come and try out all the new hushFree pods, the hushSpot benching, the hushWall mobile space dividers, as well as our latest solutions, never shown previously.
• Come and look around the Hushoffice exhibition stand once more during our virtual walk-through we have prepared using a 360˚ tour technology.

A new vision of work starts with flexible, hybrid and inclusive solutions

A new vision of work involves developing a fresh and contemporary approach to not only the workplace itself, but first and foremost to employees with their varied needs, expectations and even requirements. Acoustic pods are becoming a solution that provides a wider range of benefits to employees than ‘just’ spaces isolated from office noise, which allows them to focus on their work, and having safe private conversations. People differ in their individual characteristics and the way they process stimuli from their environment, so what they need to remain fully effective and comfortable is a workplace arrangement that works for them. And in particular, for neuroatypical employees, who are estimated to comprise up to 20% of the global population. Isolation from unwelcome noise and possible partial isolation from disagreeable stimuli are often the prerequisites for their functioning well. This is not only due to their need to focus, which neurotypical employees need as well, but also a number of other processes that are linked to emotions or the interpretation of stimuli.

While the maximum biological and intellectual potential of the human-being is yet to be fully explored and determined, environmental sensory overload does constitute a factor. ‘Multitasking’ has become a myth in the context of human brain function. We are not PCs equipped with two processors. We can only ‘work’ in the on/off mode, that is, switch between tasks. With each of us being different, this diversity ensures our development and consistent progress. The typical and the atypical coexist. What was once unnamed is now referred to as neurodiversity. This will be one of the paths to a new vision of the work of tomorrow.

An inclusive office approach excludes no-one

While today’s workplace must respond to the current needs and expectations of employees, another talking point of the discussion about the vision for the contemporary office is its adaptation for people with disabilities. Based on US data, 2018 marks the beginning of rising levels of employment of people with disabilities. An estimated 37% of people with disabilities have entered employment, with the largest increase in employment for this group seen during the Covid pandemic. The data from the Haworth report Workplace Trends 2023 & Transformation Strategies shows that collaboration and opportunities to socialise are some of the main reasons for choosing an office as the preferred location in a hybrid work model, which is why when thinking about inclusive office design, especially in the context of people with limited mobility, it is important to consider solutions that can be used by all employees, regardless of physical impairments.

Read more about creating an inclusive office in: Why is an inclusive office a worthwhile investment?

At this year’s Orgatec in Cologne, more than 70 exhibitors displayed acoustic pods on their stands: a massive 75% increase, compared with the previous event. We all should be pleased with such a high number, because it means that the product category of acoustic pods is gradually gaining due recognition, which means a more pronounced demand for pods to be used in workplaces. When thinking about a new vision of work or an image of the office of the future, having acoustic spaces is increasingly emphasised, with the trend presumably set to gain momentum in the years to come. Industry estimates indicate that by 2032, the global market for all meet and work pods will reach US$12.1BN. We can surely gather from what we saw at Orgatec that apart from adapting pod designs for the neuroatypical or people with disabilities, the current trend involves upgrading pods with intuitive touch control modules or pod reservation systems. The next Orgatec could supposedly show more solutions that will be even more focused on users with special needs, fitting in with the trend of an inclusive office, both in the context of neurodiverse people and employees with disabilities. The Hushoffice product portofolio has already featured customised solutions for people with disabilities like the hushFree.Access.L, as well as pod control and booking facilities like the hushAssistant and hushBooking

– says Eliza Donek, Product Manager, Hushoffice.

Because we wanted our visitors to learn more about how people with high sensitivities might experience their environments, we put a special sensory booth in our stand to allow users to take a focus test in an environment that was filled with controlled auditory stimuli.

Today’s solutions – a flexible office to last years

The debate about what the ‘office of the future’ will look like is still on, and we are trying to draw the most precise conclusions from it. In fact, what a new vision of the future of work will involve depends on many factors. How have employees’ workplace needs and expectations evolved? What is important to them? What challenges do organisations face today? Today, these questions are being asked by everyone. The key to finding the right answers is to know and understand the employees’ needs concerning how to organise and furnish workplaces and what new company culture policies should be in place. All this combines working from home with working in the office, while taking an inclusive approach to workplace management with the aim of benefiting from human diversity. This makes it imperative to focus as much as possible on the needs of employees expressed ‘here and now’ if we wish to adapt an office to employees that will be ‘up-to-date’ for as long as possible.

Given the above, we are all the more pleased to have been able to showcase our new hushAssistant functionality to visitors to our stand. Featuring an intuitive touch screen, the control system revolutionises the use of hushFree pods. It ensures high-precision lighting and ventilation control in the pod, and it gives access to helpful tools such as a coffee break reminder. With hushAssistant, you can from now on adjust the light intensity and chromatic temperature with precision in the range of 2200-6500 K. The module supports Microsoft 365 to enable seamless pod booking by employees in each office. Just as importantly, hushAssistant allows you preset lighting modes to choose from. This comes as an alternative to manual setting adjustment and a simple way to select lighting modes according to your desired effect: Automatic, Relax, Focus or Video Conference (available in hushFree.S only). It frees employees from fine-tuning the settings themselves and helps achieve the desired conditions immediately. Each of the preset modes ensures 100% air flow efficiency, providing fresh air as soon as you enter.

Read more about the hushAssistant modes and other features in Presenting hushAssistant for hushFree booths

The choice of our acoustic pods we showcased at Orgatec and that we present below also shows how we respond to current workplace design challenges with new flexible office solutions.

Fundamentals of the hushFree line: choose how and where you want to work

Here is a recap of our products. The one-person office booth hushFree.S is a pod designed for individual work, lengthy video and phone calls for one person. It integrates a desk the height of which you can easily adjust by hand without any extra power supply. It is a sit-and-stand pod for promoting work habits that support your wellbeing and health. Employees can adjust desktop height to suit their preferences and tasks at hand in just a few seconds. Designed with aesthetics in mind, additional side LED lights ensure proper illumination of a user’s face for enhanced visibility during video calls.

The hushFree.M acoustic pod is ideal for both face-to-face and hybrid meetings, important conversations that require privacy, team meetings and creative work. The hushFree.M pod allows you to maintain better employee efficiency for much longer when having meetings and conversations or simply concentrating on your work. It is designed for meetings of up to 4 users. The hushFree.L office pod works remarkably well as an alternative to standard meeting rooms. It is a go-to solution for business meetings, presentations, video meetings in larger groups, as well as less formal sessions. It is designed for up to 6 users.

Increase your office accessibility with hushFree pods

Our fully accessible products include two acoustic pods, hushFree.Access.M and hushFree.Access.L. They come with a zero threshold flooring for easier access, a wide door and a choice of swing direction, or a comfortable no-twist pull-style door handle. When fitted with the hushAssistant module (available for every pod in the hushFree range), they become a fully intuitive and accessible space for everyone to conveniently work and organise meetings in a matter of moments.

Read more about both pods in Get accessible with hushFree.Access pods

Improper work station design and noise are most frequently quoted by respondents with disabilities as physical barriers experienced in the workplace. Investing in office pods like hushFree.Access.M or hushFree.Access.L does not only provide solutions for people with disabilities. By making such customised equipment available offices become more likely to employ people with limited mobility. Even if no person with disabilities is employed for the time-being, it is with the solutions that improve office accessibility that a company’s future recruitment prospects can grow. What’s more, championing office accessibility truly boosts your business. Firms that  have been leaders in disability inclusion for over 5 years reported 1.6 times higher revenue, 2.6 times higher net income and 2 times higher economic profit than the rest of organisations surveyed. The trend of inclusivity and diversity to design a space accessible to all with flexible solutions to both ensure maximum employee productivity and meet their individual needs is the key to creating the solutions of the future – today – both in human and business terms

– says Mateusz Barczyk, Senior Brand Manager, Hushoffice.

Fine-tune your office work environment

We complemented the Hushoffice collection of acoustic pods at Orgatec 2024 with three brand-new products!

HushFree.XM is a two-person acoustic pod for one-on-one conversations that, thanks to its compact size, will also fit well in smaller office spaces. It is designed for cosy face-to-face meetings and talks. It allows users to spend much more time meeting and discussing things in person or online while enjoying the peace and quiet of the space. It will also work well for conceptual work. The presence of hushFree.XM at Orgatec was a great opportunity to launch the sale of this product which you can already configure and order. Leave us a message here if you are interested in buying this solution.

Find out more by reading Proudly presenting the hushFree.XM 2-person booth

What are the two other new products? These are variations of the basic hushFree.S acoustic pod. The first is the hushFree.XS, a more compact and revised version of the one-person office booth. The hushFree.S has also been on display as a sit-down variant – an optional configuration designed for individual work in a seated position, with customised lighting for video conferencing. Both booths will be available for order in 2025.

The stand arrangement was completed by the hushSpot bench and hushWall mobile space dividers.

Hushoffice experience. Join us to visit the stand once more… or as many times as you like!

We have prepared a unique opportunity to come to this year’s trade fair stand: a virtual walk-through! Using 360-degree technology, we recorded – literally – the entire space of our exhibition stand.

Click HERE to start the virtual tour.

Using this virtual walk-through tool, you can take your time to see around the entire stand, choosing your path at will and, most importantly, you can fully focus on our products, their details, and even find descriptions of Hushoffice products that are also part of our virtual walk-through. You only need to open the link to the virtual walk-through and feel free to choose the direction you go in. Click on the circular spaces visible on the floor to adjust your position on the stand, thus modifying your view.

You can experience the Hushoffice virtual walk-through on your mobile device, desktop or laptop, or even using VR goggles! It is a great opportunity to relive the trade fair experience, but apart from that, if you didn’t attend Orgatec, you can have a close look of our products from the outside, and, thanks to virtual reality, enter and get a best impression of what it might be like to work in hushFree pods. So… feel free!

Hushoffice at the Orgatec – summary

• Orgatec 2024 gathered 729 exhibitors from 40 countries on a total of as much as 140,000 square metres! Clearly, the acoustic work and meet pod category aligned with this year’s theme, as it was represented by 75% more exhibitors of acoustic booths in comparison with the previous event!
• The Hushoffice stand centred around neurodiversity and inclusivity in the workplace, which was visually accentuated by a number of features at the stand specially designed for the fair. Visitors could come and try out all the new hushFree pods, the hushSpot benching, the hushWall mobile space dividers, as well as our latest solutions, never shown previously.
• Come and look around the Hushoffice exhibition stand once more during our virtual walk-through we have prepared using a 360˚ tour technology.

Hushoffice pods – FAQ

Is the hushFree.XM pod presented at Orgatec 2024 already on sale?

Yes, you can order the hushFree.XM acoustic office pod in Europe, while it will be commercially available in the US in 2025.

Can you install hushAssistant in the hushFree.XM pods?

Yes, you can. The hushFree.XM office pod – like the other acoustic pods in the hushFree range – can be fitted with the user-friendly pod control system hushAssistant.

Do Hushoffice acoustic cabins and booths meet the needs of neuroatypical people on the autism spectrum?

All Hushoffice acoustic pods, including the hushFree range, are Certified Autism Resource (CAR) complying with the requirements set by the International Board of Credentialing and Continuing Education Standards (IBCCES). This means that Hushoffice pods meet the