Office pods for co-working spaces: demand, layout and revenue

Office pods give co-working spaces private call and meeting space without building new rooms. Phone booths keep video calls off the shared floor, which protects the atmosphere members pay for, while bookable two- and four-person meeting pods can be charged by the hour. Because pods are freestanding, operators can add, move or remove them as membership changes.

Why co-working members expect pods

Members expect pods because most of their working day now involves calls, and an open co-working floor is a poor place to take them. The Office for National Statistics found that 28% of working adults in Great Britain were hybrid working in autumn 2024 (Office for National Statistics, 2024). A member who chooses a co-working desk over the kitchen table is paying for a professional setting, and that includes somewhere to take a client call without being overheard.

Calls also affect the members who are not on them. One person on a loud video call can disturb a whole bank of hot desks, and complaints about noise are among the hardest problems for a community manager to fix once a space is full. Pods solve the issue at source by giving calls somewhere to go.

There is a commercial reason too. Supply keeps growing: CoworkingCafe counted 4,876 coworking locations across the UK and Ireland in Q3 2026, 4,597 of them in the UK (CoworkingCafe, 2026). With more choice, members compare details such as call space when they tour, and visible, well-finished pods are an easy way to show a space has thought about how people actually work.

Where the demand is concentrated

Demand for flexible space, and therefore for pods within it, is heavily concentrated in London. CoworkingCafe’s Q3 2026 count put Greater London at 1,276 locations, around ten times Manchester’s 127, with Dublin at 129 leading Ireland (CoworkingCafe, 2026).

Density brings competition. In London, where operators sit streets apart, the quality of shared amenities is one of the few ways to stand out. In regional cities, where a space may be the main flexible option in town, pods tend to be justified more by member retention and the ability to host small client meetings. Either way, pods are one of the few amenities that can be added to an existing floor without building work.

Bookable pods versus drop-in booths

The best approach for most operators is to keep single-person phone booths unbookable and make larger meeting pods bookable. Short calls do not fit a booking system: members need a booth now, for ten minutes, and a calendar slot adds friction that pushes calls back onto the floor. Meeting pods are used for planned sessions, so booking works and allows you to charge.

Pod type	Typical use	Bookable?	Charging model	Example StillPods model
Single phone booth	Calls of a few minutes to an hour	Usually not	Included in membership	S1 booth, W1000 × D1000 mm
Focus pod with desk	Longer calls, interviews, focused work	Sometimes, in blocks	Included or premium membership	M focus pod, W1500 × D1250 mm
Two-person pod	One-to-ones, interviews, coaching	Yes	Credits or hourly rate	Smart Twin, W2200 × D1200 mm
Four-person meeting pod	Team meetings, client meetings, video calls	Yes	Credits or hourly rate	Quad, W2200 × D1250 mm; Lounge L4, W2390 × D1906 mm
Six- to eight-person pod	Workshops, larger meetings	Yes	Hourly rate, often with screen	Quad in D1600 or D2500 sizes

A common middle route is to set a soft time limit on booths, such as a sign asking members to keep calls under 30 minutes when others are waiting, and to offer the Smart Twin two-person pod as a bookable space for longer calls and one-to-ones.

How many pods a co-working space needs

The right number depends on how many members are in on a typical busy day and how call-heavy they are, rather than on total membership. A space full of sales teams and recruiters needs far more booths than one used mainly by designers and developers. Start from your peak daily attendance, look at how often members currently leave the floor to take calls, and plan enough booths that a member rarely waits more than a few minutes.

Observation beats rules of thumb here. Spend a few busy days noting how many people are on calls at desks, in corridors and in meeting rooms at the same time, and use the peak as your starting point. Our guide to how many phone booths per employee sets out the planning method in more detail, and the same approach works for members.

Two practical points help. First, install in phases: put in a few booths, track occupancy and queues for a month, then add more. Second, leave at least one larger pod unbooked so it can act as overflow when all booths are full.

Layout and placement on a co-working floor

Pods work best when they are close to where calls start and far enough from quiet areas that people walking in and out do not disturb them. Some placement rules we use with operators:

• Booths near hot desks. If a booth is more than a short walk away, members will take the call at their desk.
• Meeting pods near reception or the kitchen. Visitors can be met and brought in without crossing the whole floor.
• Glass fronts facing circulation. Members can see at a glance whether a pod is in use.
• Clear space in front of doors. Allow room for a door swing and for someone to wait without blocking a walkway.
• Power and data close by. Plan floor boxes or wall sockets before the pods arrive.
• Away from sprinkler heads and ventilation grilles where possible, so that building systems are not obstructed. Check this with your landlord and fire risk assessor.

Pods also help with zoning. A row of booths can form a soft boundary between a social area and a quiet zone, doing the job of a partition while adding call space.

Think about the members who use the space at different times of day, too. Call demand is rarely even across the week, particularly when many members are hybrid and tend to choose the same days to come in. Our article on office pods for hybrid working looks at these patterns in corporate offices, and the same logic applies to a flexible floor: plan for the busiest hour, not the daily average, and review the mix after the first few months of use.

Revenue and pricing thinking

Bookable meeting pods can be priced against your local meeting room rates. In Q3 2026, CoworkingCafe found a UK median meeting room rate of £30 an hour, rising to £53 in London, with Edinburgh and Birmingham at £35 and Nottingham lowest at £21 (CoworkingCafe, 2026). The same report gives a UK median monthly membership of £220 and a median day pass of £25.

A four-person pod is smaller and less formal than a meeting room, so many operators price it below their room rate or include a monthly allowance of credits. The arithmetic is simple: at the UK median of £30 an hour, every ten paid hours a week is £300 of weekly booking income, before any discount for credits. Compare that with the pod’s cost, the floor area it uses and what that area would earn as desks.

Phone booths rarely earn directly, but they protect revenue in other ways:

• They reduce noise complaints, which can otherwise push members to look elsewhere.
• They let you sell more hot desks per square metre, because calls are not spreading across the floor.
• They support higher-value memberships aimed at client-facing professionals.
• They can be branded and photographed for marketing, where a well-finished pod reads as a sign of quality.

Because pods are movable, the investment also follows the business. If a site closes or you take a new floor, pods can be dismantled and reinstalled, which is harder to say for a built meeting room.

Specifying pods for heavy shared use

Co-working pods see more users per day than most corporate pods, so specify for wear. Points to check:

• Durable fabrics and felts with abrasion ratings suited to contract use. See our office pod finishes guide.
• Ventilation that runs automatically when the pod is occupied, so air stays fresh between back-to-back bookings.
• Occupancy sensors that switch off lighting and fans when the pod is empty.
• Door closers and seals that will tolerate hundreds of openings a week.
• Screens and cameras in meeting pods that members can connect to without help.
• Easy-clean surfaces on desks and handles.

For four-person pods, the Quad meeting pod comes in larger 4–6 and 6–8 person depths, which gives operators room to grow without changing the floor plan.

Frequently asked questions

Should co-working phone booths be bookable?

Usually not. Most calls are short and unplanned, so booking adds friction. Keep booths drop-in with a polite time limit, and make two- and four-person meeting pods bookable instead.

How much can a co-working space charge for a meeting pod?

Use local meeting room rates as a benchmark. CoworkingCafe’s Q3 2026 data put the UK median meeting room rate at £30 an hour and London’s at £53; many operators price pods below their room rate or include them in member credits.

Can pods be moved if we change sites?

Yes. Freestanding pods are designed to be dismantled and reassembled, so they can move with you to a new floor or building.

How quickly can pods be added to an open co-working floor?

Assembly on site is quick compared with building work because pods arrive as finished panels. Production and shipping lead times come first, so order well ahead of a launch or relaunch.

Plan pods for your space

If you send us your floor plan, membership mix and the number of desks you run, we can suggest a pod mix and placement. Browse our office phone booths and meeting pods, then request a quote for your site.

Sources

• CoworkingCafe – Coworking Industry Report Q3 2026: UK and Ireland (accessed October 2026)
• CoworkingCafe – Coworking Industry Report Q1 2026: UK and Ireland (accessed October 2026)
• Allwork.Space – Nearly 4,700 coworking spaces now operate across the UK and Ireland (accessed October 2026)
• GCUC UK – Coworking keeps climbing: 4,199 spaces across the UK and Ireland (accessed October 2026)
• Office for National Statistics – Who are the hybrid workers? (accessed October 2026)