Spending a few hours every day in heavy traffic to reach the tedious decor of his office? “No, thank you”, proclaims the younger generation of workers. Therefore, companies must be inventive in terms of the working environment. Belgian start-up Annie Where offers pod offices to be placed in the garden, in the parking lot or wherever you want.
The team behind Annie Where will be happy to put the story of its beginnings in a different way – where and how this revolutionary idea emerged. But David Bintein and Jo Caudron decided to stay true to the truth. David Bintein: “During confinement, we step together. In an electric step”. Jo Caudron: “David and I were village comrades and, during the incarceration, we had the opportunity to exchange our ideas for a long time. We both followed, over time, the evolution of society when it came to technology, mobility. act and work, and we felt it was now impossible to go back to the long hours spent in traffic every day, but realized that for many the idea of working from home had lost romance, having children, animals or otherwise yet. not always made obvious by workers.In other words, companies were forced to be more flexible, and that is how Annie Where’s idea emerged.We wanted to offer them the opportunity to go the simple way to meet the new needs of their staff. ” The pods that Annie Where installs here and there don’t just find their place in private gardens. Businesses are also noticing that the long -desired “island” layout of their offices is not suited to the many Zoom meetings and phone calls that now need to be made with colleagues working from home. These pods are therefore also found in the field of companies, where they are seen as additional extensions to the classic office, con …
The team behind Annie Where will be happy to put the story of its beginnings in a different way – where and how this revolutionary idea emerged. But David Bintein and Jo Caudron decided to stay true to the truth. David Bintein: “During confinement, we step together. In an electric step”. Jo Caudron: “David and I were village comrades and, during the incarceration, we had the opportunity to exchange our ideas for a long time. We both followed, over time, the evolution of society when it came to technology, mobility. act and work, and we felt it was now impossible to go back to the long hours spent in traffic every day, but realized that for many the idea of working from home had lost romance, having children, animals or otherwise yet. not always made obvious by workers.In other words, companies were forced to be more flexible, and that is how Annie Where’s idea emerged.We wanted to offer them the opportunity to go the simple way to meet the new needs of their staff. ” The pods that Annie Where installs here and there don’t just find their place in private gardens. Businesses are also noticing that the long -desired “island” layout of their offices is not suited to the many Zoom meetings and phone calls that now need to be made with colleagues working from home. Pods are therefore also located in the field of companies, where they act as an additional extension to traditional offices, forming spaces where it is possible to work in full confidentiality, or to organize sessions of brainstorming and important meetings. Diversity, innovation has beneficial aspects and it also applies to productivity. Other environments can work wonders. It’s amazing how quickly such a pod desk can come together anywhere. The floors, walls and roof, which are mainly made of insulating materials (made from recycled PET bottles), are prefabricated as standard and equipped with all the necessary fastening techniques, to combine only the ito. “In other words, it’s not possible for everyone to build their own pod desk. We work with constant elements. The colors, layout and accessories can, of course, be customized. But the basic elements remain the same “Only then can we guarantee the immediate replacement of any damaged item. And only by working with this fixed pattern can we offer companies the necessary flexibility.” And this fixed pattern has the shape of a hexagon. A reliable form, according to David Biintein – he has already used it for the logo of his co -working space, The Hive. Gilles Missinne: “Anyone who orders a pod will be able to assemble it themselves. In addition to the white walls, windows and doors, there is a technical partition where all the connecting elements for” electricity, wifi and air conditioning. And everything can be activated using a smartphone application. That’s why it’s possible to first activate the air conditioning to work in the perfect environment. “The trio says pods can also contribute to reducing energy charges.” When working alone on the pod, the heating or Air conditioning can be turned off in the home, which logically leads to less consumption. The idea is, of course, that the employer carries the bill – by analogy with the company car. ”Jo Caudron:“ We are convinced that pod offices could be company cars in the future. The new generation of workers values a pleasant workplace closer to home than an expensive car parked in the garage. ”Regardless of the size and composition of the desktop pod, a price is immediately calculated during renovation Its not a sale price: Annie Where works according to a monthly leasing formula that provides for all forms of maintenance and wear. Anyone who takes a subscription – prices start at approximately 450 euros – for in that month it could be canceled the next month.Gilles Missinne: “It’s comparable to Lynk & Co’s car system. I drive that kind of car, which is also rented monthly and where all services are taken care of. ”Since Annie Where’s official debut in January, several companies have shown interest and installed test pods. Bintein: “In addition, we also see huge demand from real estate producers. And, in fact, it can represent a huge added value to set up such pods in a residential area in such a way that it can be used by residents at work. It creates a useful buzz. “However, this fast-growing company is resistant to many hurdles. Including the lack of materials.” We will try in the future to avoid this as much as possible by recycle and reuse panels after use. The material is not only recycled, it is also recycled again. ”The subscription formula is also a challenge: traditional companies are accustomed to working according to a system that is more based on buying and selling than principle. of leasing. Jo Caudron: “In this regard, we have noticed that small businesses can adapt more quickly and fully embrace the idea of a subscription.” The last hurdle is the rigidity of Belgian law. of the permit application for all residential functions. And – oh surprise! – the work continues to be one. “We are pushing for these provisions to be relaxed, and certainly not just us. The law should help to make flexibility possible. ”Until then, you have to go through town hall.” And it varies a lot from one municipality to another. In case one or the other problem arises after a while, our flexibility allows us to intervene quickly to remove the pod. ”Anyone who wants to work in a pod office can now do so within the Belgian border. But the trio of shareholders have very high ambitions. Jo Caudron: “We really want to take this concept around the world.” In terms of form, it continues to be made perfect. “The walls, for example, are highly lending themselves to placing stickers, making it easy for companies to customize their pods. And we are looking at the possibility of incorporating hanging plants or a green roof. All this is still being done, but anchoring in this nature is important, in our opinion. It also plans to be able to offer pods in colors other than white next year. “The trio doesn’t have much faith in Apple’s model. Jo Caudron:” Apple doesn’t offer the iPhone in all possible colors ” .Perhaps we could consider using colored covers to dress the pods? ”David Bintein:“ But we’ve already figured it out ”.