Easy to collaborate in a group of four to five high school students

Convert to a solitary computer-aided learning environment

Customizable

Open to teachers

Ample and accessable storage

Rugged enough for everyday use by high schoolers

Each Pod unit can be placed right beside another so the curve may continue, almost making a complete circle. Students' work desk is accessed from the inside. Vertical walls partition the work space and give a clean sense of solitude. The high carpet back deadens sound and keeps distractions out so students can focus on their work. Despite the walls enclosing the space, height is emphasized from the students point of view. Shelving supports and the carpet gently draw the eye upward. The result is an isolated work space, yet the user is not enclosed in a cramped bubble.

A round table is placed concetric to all the desks, available for every student. The students need only to spin in their chairs to go from an induvidualized working environment to a community. 

A very important aspect of this design was to make sure students could make a pod their own, inside and out. The carpet that extends up the back was carefully chosen to be compatable with hook-and-loop strips. Students can quickly personalize their space with pops of color, suspending school supplies to keep their desk clear, whiteboards, calendars, and the like. Come the end of the school year, it takes but minutes to pull down, and the Pod is ready for it's next user.

While students need a degree of privacy, teachers will need to be able to spot trouble-makers or get procrastinators back on track. To answer this question, A circular cutout was placed above the desktop. The window melts away when the user is working, yet provides a decent view for teacers looking in to ensure everything is all on track. 

Students use this space as their work desk as well as their locker. Personal belongings such as backpacks, school supplies, gym shoes, and jackets all need a place to go. Students can dock their belongings in large shelving below the desktop. There are eight total shelves for storage, six below and two above the desktop. 

For everyday use in a high school setting, these pods need to withstand quite a bit of force. The primary construction is done out of 3/4 furniture grade plywood. Two layers of carpet are sown together with the nice sides showing on both the inside and outside. 1/8 masonite (hardboard) cutouts provide structure between the layers of carpet.

 

All the plywood and mosonite parts were cut out on a ShopBot 4'x8' CNC router table. For one Pod unit, three sheets of 4'x8' plywood are used, and two 4'x8' sheets of masonite.