We speak to Jukka Nummi who is the Design Manager at Vetrospace, a pod manufacturer who specialise in knowing how to create the best working environments.
Tell us about Vetrospace.
Vetrospace is a pod manufacturer who specialise in knowing how to create the best working environments for workspaces. Our pods have been found to increase productivity and efficiency, meaning they are a long-term investment for your workspace. We are also incredibly proud that our pods sanitise and keep staff healthy. The photon disinfection light kills microbes, viruses, and other unhealthy particles safely and effectively – which is welcome news for workspaces, especially during recent times.
How long have you worked at Vetrospace?
I started at Vetrospace two and a half years ago. I’ve more or less always worked in the furniture industry, although for the first 10 years of my career, I worked in design within the fast food industry. I’ve always worked on a global scale so I’m used to dealing with a range of cultures and adapting our strategy.
At the moment, I am the Design Manager at Vetrospace and am responsible for the design elements of the products and developments to make the pods appear visually attractive. We are planning a small face lift for 2022 and have completed a selection of prototypes, which are already looking pretty good. I am also currently responsible for the resellers in the UK, Ireland, Russia and the Middle East. I keep myself very busy - the days just aren’t long enough!
What does your normal working day look like?
I like my job so much that the time absolutely flies by! Zoom calls have become more frequent as travelling has obviously been a challenge this past year. Here at the office, we have our individual pods and meetings pods, so we have been able to continue in our normal way. Fortunately, we have been able to welcome people to our offices and host meetings, because our offices are probably one of the safest spaces to meet, with regards to Covid.
How has your office operated throughout the pandemic?
Honestly, there hasn’t been any major changes for us. We don’t have a single built wall within the space - our whole offices are made up of pods. We all have individual pods where we can concentrate and focus on the task in-hand, but we also have larger meeting pods where we’re able to share ideas and collaborate.
What is your favourite Vetrospace product?
My favourite product has to be the XXL pod. It’s 12sq and gives a huge deal of space. We host most of our meetings in one of these and it really does allow us to share ideas, collaborate, and to maximise our potential.
What do you think the future of the office holds? And why?
This is a question that nobody really knows the answer to, but I think a combination of being at the office and home working is likely. I also think we’ll experience two waves of the ‘new normal’. The first, when we squeeze the office into a space where certain people are working day-to-day to run the operations, while the rest of the office is used for meeting space only.
Our vision is that the office will be smaller and more populated with pods which, in turn, decreases cost. In a year or so, there may be a second wave, which will steer us into another different kind of ‘normal’. We believe the office space will expand, allowing more space for pods whilst encouraging both individual and collaborative work.
That’s our vision, but let’s see what happens. Of course, some companies will have benefited from the past 12 months, but many will still have big expenses and perhaps little capital at this time, which is why leasing the pods is a great solution.