The AntiPODy

Origin 3 Studio

The judges said:

Thomas Heatherwick: ‘This promotes a potentially very serious idea; psychologically it allows people to have another space to go to’

Narinder Sagoo: ‘The value of urban space outside of our home is greater than it used to be, which this project demonstrates…Alan would have liked this one, I’ve just got a feeling!’

Alison Brooks: ‘This is probably the most fun submission we’ve received.’

While many people struggle to find the space to work at home, oscillating between makeshift solutions in living rooms and kitchens, cars are parked unused outside homes, suffocating our streets. This solution proposes displacing the cars with a new kind of work pod.

The AntiPODy will come in myriad forms to suit professions ranging from architect to attorney and from politician to woodworker. Even with just a few units per street, the pods have the potential to transform neighbourhoods by helping combat isolation and loneliness. Delivering back some of the incidental distraction and conversation that would usually pepper the working day, people at work in the pods will be able to engage visually with neighbours and passersby while maintaining social distance.

This solution enables the complete separation of work from home, helping people to achieve a healthy work-life balance without the need to travel. Work paraphernalia can be stored in the space, and acoustic separation is achieved. The pods navigate rules around permitted development and will be moveable, agile and quick to deploy.

O3S
Anna Muray, David Rhodes, Mike May