Podcast Summary: "Building the Future of Work"

Podcast: From the Ground Up (Inc. Magazine)
Date: December 22, 2025
Host: Joshua Christensen
Guest: Thierry on Day, Managing Director at Room

Episode Overview

This episode explores how Room, a company specializing in modular office pods, is redefining workspace design to better fit the needs of modern hybrid and flexible working models. Host Joshua Christensen speaks with Room’s Managing Director, Thierry on Day, about Room’s evolving mission, design philosophy, sustainability efforts, user feedback, leadership lessons, and trends shaping the future of workspaces. The conversation reveals how customer insights and changing work patterns are driving innovation in office environments.

Main Themes & Key Discussion Points

1. Room’s Mission and Evolution

• Founding Insight: Room was created seven years ago in response to the problems of open floor plans—noise, lack of privacy, and reduced employee well-being.
  • “Open floor plan workspaces were very noisy, were lacking privacy, and often negatively impacting the productivity and the well being of employees.” – Thierry [01:43]
• Evolving Needs: Today, the company’s mission has broadened to address workplace flexibility, shorter leases, distributed talent, and reconfigurable spaces.
  • “Now it’s more about providing an answer to this ever growing need for flexibility.” – Thierry [01:53]

2. Design Principles and Aesthetic Trends

• Blending Home with Office: Modern employees desire a more ‘homey’ office feel, especially post-pandemic.
• Core Design Tenets:
  • Flexibility and versatility for quick setup and reconfiguration.
  • Ease of assembly, disassembly, transport; minimal environmental footprint.
  • Commitment to sustainability through use of recycled and recyclable materials.
  • Products can stand out or blend in, adapting to client preferences.
  • “We design beautiful products… with a sleek design and products that stand out if you want them to stand out, and products that blend in at the same time.” – Thierry [03:26]
• Designing Simplicity:
  • Achieving minimalist aesthetics without sacrificing functionality is a complex, intentional process.
  • “Designing simplicity is a very complex process, but I believe we have achieved that goal.” – Thierry [04:46]

3. Customer Feedback and Inclusive Design

• Neurodiversity Consideration: Unanticipated positive feedback from neurodivergent employees, leading to more inclusive designs.
  • “Neurodivergent employees were really praising the room products... At the time, we had not designed our products with this consideration in mind. But of course, in our subsequent developments, we realized that we could take a lot of this feedback into the design process.” – Thierry [06:18]
• Accessibility Commitment: Launch of ADA-compliant products with deep attention to usability, not just technical compliance.
  • “Not only in the aesthetics, but in the usability of the switch, when you want to dim the light, when you want to move around, if you’re in a wheelchair, etc. Was really, really optimized for customers.” – Thierry [07:38]

4. Pursuing and Redefining Sustainability

• Local Manufacturing: Most components are sourced within the US to control sustainability throughout the supply chain.
• Innovative Materials:
  • Soundproofing foam is made from recycled plastic bottles.
  • Products are flat-packed to lower shipping emissions.
• Sustainability Beyond Materials:
  • Room products replace traditional construction, reducing long-term waste and costs.
  • “Construction is extremely wasteful... then three, four years later, they needed to tear that down because it was not meeting their needs anymore. So I think that’s where also probably sustainability has the biggest impact.” – Thierry [09:27]

5. The Business of Premium, Modular Workspaces

• Positioning as a Premium Product:
  • Initial client education compared Room’s costs to construction’s costs, yielding 30% savings.
  • Growing awareness has made the conversation about value much easier:
    • “We do not need to pitch that anymore... there’s really an awareness that construction is very expensive. Construction is not very flexible.” – Thierry [10:46]
• Navigating Compliance:
  • Room products now well understood by building inspectors; solutions like sprinkler integration have smoothed adoption.
  • “We have also solutions to connect sprinklers... that remove also the obstacle that could remain for going modular instead of construction.” – Thierry [12:02]

6. Leadership Philosophy & Avoiding Gimmicks

• Staying True to Purpose:
  • Avoiding over-design despite brand success.
  • Focusing on products’ core utility: privacy and focus.
• Tech as an Enabler, Not a Distraction:
  • Avoiding unnecessary built-in tech; emphasizing integration with users’ existing collaboration tools.
  • “We do not want our product to be stuffed with too much built in technology that could very quickly become a distraction or become even gimmick technology, if I may say so.” – Thierry [13:41]

7. Technology, Customer Experience & Future Innovation

• Making Workspace Setup Accessible:
  • Tech-driven tools on Room’s website enable small and medium businesses to design and order workspaces without professional design help.
  • “Through the website, the Room website, we want to make it as easy as possible... to design, select the products needed for your workspace and then procure all these products very easily.” – Thierry [15:02]
• Near-Term Innovation:
  • New ‘Room Collection’ offers highly configurable modular products.
• Long-Term Opportunity:
  • Room’s goal: make construction obsolete for workspace setups, empowering companies (especially SMBs) to configure offices independently.
    • “Within a few years, we’ll be very, very close to the stage where we have innovated enough in our products that basically you can set up a whole workspace without having to use any construction.” – Thierry [16:24]

8. Envisioning the Future of Workspaces

• Intentional Collaboration vs. Constant Connectivity:
  • Future office design should support both meaningful collaboration and focused individual work, not just an ‘always-on’ culture.
  • “We could all benefit from a much more intentional collaboration in the workspace. Collaboration that gives space for each individual to more deep and focused work, collaboration that fosters meaningful interactions instead of having this culture of constant connectivity.” – Thierry [17:45]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Designing simplicity is a very complex process, but I believe we have achieved that goal.” – Thierry [04:46]
• “Neurodivergent employees... were much happier about coming more often to the office because they know that they could sit in one of the room products and do focus work.” – Thierry [06:28]
• “For the soundproofing, we use foam that is made of recycled plastic bottles... I’ve lost count about, you know, how many millions of plastic bottles that we have recycled at that stage.” – Thierry [09:00]
• “Collaboration that gives space for each individual to more deep and focused work, collaboration that fosters meaningful interactions instead of having this culture of constant connectivity.” – Thierry [17:49]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [01:43] – Room’s mission and its evolution to fit flexibility needs.
• [03:26] – Core design principles and the influence of home trends.
• [06:18] – Customer feedback, inclusion of neurodivergent perspectives.
• [08:39] – Sustainability in supply chains and materials.
• [10:46] – The business case for modular offices vs. construction cost.
• [12:02] – Compliance and modular adoption in buildings.
• [13:05] – Leadership lessons and resisting unnecessary tech.
• [15:02] – Using technology to streamline workspace setup.
• [16:53] – The next big opportunity and construction replacement.
• [17:45] – The future of intentional workspace collaboration.

Episode Takeaway

Thierry on Day offers a candid look at how Room adapts to the changing landscape of work. Their mission is firmly rooted in creating flexible, sustainable solutions that prioritize user experience, inclusivity, and meaningful interactions—without succumbing to technological gimmicks. Room’s evolving approach to workspace design highlights a growing industry movement: building offices that serve both companies and their employees while remaining adaptable to the rapidly shifting future of work.