Natives Group Cellpod

The Client

Natives Group is the leading education-specialist digital marketing agency. They work with schools, colleges and universities globally to help them overcome the unique challenges faced by the sector.

With offices in Brighton, Portsmouth and New York, we have had the pleasure of working with Natives Group on a number of projects over the years.

The Brief

Natives Group wanted to build acoustically sound meeting spaces within their existing Portsmouth offices. With building, fire and lease regulations, this would have been difficult to achieve with traditional building techniques or permanent glass partitioning.

We needed to centre our approach around the following

  • An internal meeting room that would be in-line with the buildings fire regulations and sprinkler system
  • A solution that worked in the middle of a busy office space
  • Self contained lighting, power and ventilation
  • Acoustically sound to host meetings without disturbing the rest of the office
  • Attractive, sturdy, and most importantly – retrofittable

The Approach

After looking a number of options for their space, we decided to put the ‘Cell Pod’ forward by The Senator Group. Hailed as one of the most flexible free-standing meeting pods on the market, the cell pod gave us the ability to configure an acoustically sound meeting room for an otherwise awkward space within their office.

When configuring the meeting pod for Natives Group, we decided on a electronic Louvre ceiling. Offering ventilation and better air flow, this slatted ceiling also ensures the relevant fire regulations are met by intelligently opening if smoke or heat from a fire are detected within the Cell Pod. If a fire is present in the building and the sprinkler system is activated, the buildings power is disrupted or cut which also signals to the roof to open via a backup power system.

On either end of the pod we decided on acoustic panels rather than glass to help absorb sound inside and outside of the pod. On the far end of the meeting space, we specified a media unit to easily mount a TV or teleconferencing system.

To furnish, Natives Group used their existing contemporary Tonina chairs that we had provided a few weeks previous to installation.

Take a look at the time lapse of installation below

Share this: