Episode 34 - MODULAR SPACES FOR THE NEW ERA OF OFFICE DESIGN - Jouko Urpolahti General Manager, Vetrospace Ltd. Artwork

The Quiet Mark Podcast

Welcome to The Quiet Mark Podcast. Hosted by Simon Gosling CMO at Quiet Mark, the global award programme associated with the UK Noise Abatement Society, this series uniquely explores the vital role acoustics will play in the future of global living, building and product design sharing conversations with thought-leading designers, architects, and sound experts. The World Health Organization (WHO) recognises environmental noise as the 2nd largest environmental health risk in Western Europe after air quality. Noise contributes to a range of physical and mental health problems, disturbed sleep, affects people’s hearing, communication and learning. And, in our smart-phone era, noise isn’t only about the big sounds of planes, traffic and construction sites, smaller sounds like someone FaceTiming on the bus or playing music loudly through their tinny headphones can cause stress, annoyance and impacts our mental health. During this time of Lockdown our world is much quieter than usual, every sound is more noticeable, quietness has never seemed more important or front of mind, where could this take us and how will we live, build, and work after this profound period of change? To help navigate the world-changes around us, these exclusive insights into pioneering projects and visions, explore the future on the other side of the crisis.

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Episode 34 - MODULAR SPACES FOR THE NEW ERA OF OFFICE DESIGN - Jouko Urpolahti General Manager, Vetrospace Ltd.

December 15, 2021 • Quiet Mark

Our guest on Episode 34 of The Quiet Mark Podcast is Jouko Urpolahti General Manager, Vetrospace, a company whose modular space products have recently been Quiet Mark certified and listed in our Acoustics Academy directory of verified acoustic solutions for every building type.

In a recent episode of The Quiet Mark Podcast, Adam Cossey, Partner at Hawkins\Brown Civic, Community and Culture Sector Lead shared how his company research had found that, in the modern era of hybrid working, 3 desks per 10 team members are often sufficient, whereas pre-pandemic, it would have been 6 per 10.

Workers returning to the office, from their homes, no longer want to see rows of desks in open plan spaces. Instead, they prefer a more zonal approach with soft fabrics and finishes, more plantings and biophilic design, and quieter spaces to go to for privacy, quiet and focus. It's no wonder therefore, that there were so many new pods and booths on display at the recent Workspace Design Show.

Founded in 2017, before the pandemic, and based in Finland, Vetrospace manufactures unique meeting pods and phone booths that incorporate critical health technology, including anti-microbial lighting, anti-viral nano-coating and clean-air ventilation. The result, they say, is the most hygienic, private modular spaces on the market.

On December 1st, Jouko took time out of his hectic Slush schedule to talk to The Quiet Mark Podcast, from Vetrospace's latest product, their StreamSpace. Helsinki's Slush has grown into the largest single gathering of venture capital in the world – 1,700 investors ranging from VCs to angels, CVCs, and LPs, all looking for the next big thing. Vetrospace supplied this year's Slush event with almost thirty indoor air purification meeting rooms. Would their StreamSpace booth be enough keep out the noise of the 8,000 Slush attendees and enable our Host, Simon Gosling, to record their conversation in peace and quiet? Listen to discover more!

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Simon Gosling

Host