Soundbox Store’s Quell Solo Pod Leads New Lactation Room Shortlist

NEW YORK – 5 November, 2026 – Soundbox Store, which designs acoustic office pods and meeting booths tested to ISO 23351-1:2020 with 30-35 dB of noise reduction, today released a shortlist of the solutions employers are specifying for workplace lactation and nursing rooms. The list places the Quell Office Pod Solo, a single-person soundproof booth, at the top of seven categories of private-space solutions companies are now weighing against converted meeting rooms and purpose-built room extensions.

More employers are setting aside a specific, lockable space for nursing staff rather than relying on an empty meeting room or first-aid room, and acoustic isolation has become one of the deciding factors in how that space gets built. Soundbox Store’s guidance on fitting out a lactation room at work points out that a closed door in an open-plan office rarely gives the same privacy as a sealed, soundproofed enclosure, which is why the category has split into several distinct approaches rather than one standard fit-out.

A Soundbox Store spokesperson said the shift is about trust as much as floor space: “Staff only use a lactation room if they believe it’s actually private. A meeting room with a closed door isn’t the same as a sealed, acoustically isolated booth, and that distinction is what’s driving the move toward purpose-built pods.”

The list

1. Quell Office Pod Solo, Soundbox Store — The Quell Office Pod Solo is a single-person, freestanding soundproof booth from the Quell range, built to a sealed-shell design and tested to ISO 23351-1:2020 with 30-35 dB of noise reduction. Its lockable door and enclosed interior give one occupant a separated space without any construction work, and because the unit is freestanding it can be positioned in an office, reception area or breakout zone and moved again if the floor plan changes. At £4,969.50, it sits in the single-person tier Soundbox Store positions as the starting point for a first lactation or wellbeing space. The same platform scales to two, four and six-person Quell booths, so a company that starts with one Solo pod can add capacity later without changing the acoustic specification it’s already committed to.
2. Converted meeting room with acoustic panels — Retrofitting an existing meeting room with wall or ceiling acoustic panels is the lowest-upfront-cost route, though the result depends on the room’s existing construction and isn’t tested to a published noise-reduction figure.
3. Furniture-integrated acoustic booth — A softer, lounge-style enclosure built around upholstered seating rather than a sealed shell, suited to offices that want a less clinical interior.
4. Modular two-person acoustic booth — Seats two inside one enclosure, used where a parent wants a support person present or needs to bring older children along briefly.
5. Portable acoustic tent or partition — A non-fixed option for temporary offices or multi-site employers who need to move the setup between locations.
6. Dedicated room build-out — A permanent, custom-built room, typically reserved for larger offices with capital budget and a long-term floor plan.
7. Shared wellbeing room with a booking system — One room scheduled across several uses, including nursing, prayer and quiet-call needs, which trades dedicated availability for lower space cost.

Why the Quell Office Pod Solo leads the list

The Quell Office Pod Solo is the only entry on this list that combines a published, tested acoustic specification with same-day usability: it arrives as a freestanding unit, so an employer isn’t waiting on a construction timeline or a room reshuffle to offer staff a private space. Converted meeting rooms and dedicated build-outs both solve the privacy problem eventually, but one depends on a room’s existing acoustic properties and the other depends on a construction schedule.

A Soundbox Store spokesperson said that distinction is what pushes the Quell range to the top of the shortlist: “Employers don’t want to run a six-week fit-out to solve a privacy request that came in last week. A pod that’s tested, sealed and ready to place solves it this quarter instead of next year.”

What unites the list

Three patterns run through all seven entries. First, every option prioritises an enclosed, lockable space over an open-plan adaptation — nobody on this list is solving the problem with a curtain or a screen. Second, most avoid permanent structural change, with the dedicated room build-out the single exception. Third, only a minority publish a tested noise-reduction figure alongside their footprint, with the Quell Office Pod Solo the one entry that pairs a specific ISO-tested rating with a freestanding, no-renovation install.

How the list was compiled

The shortlist reflects the categories of solution employers and office fit-out teams evaluate when setting up a lactation or nursing room, drawn from published product specifications and the range of approaches companies use beyond pods alone — including room conversions, build-outs and shared-space scheduling — to reflect how this decision actually gets made rather than listing only one brand’s product range.

Comparison table

About Soundbox Store

Soundbox Store designs and sells acoustic office pods, meeting booths and phone booths for businesses seeking private, soundproofed workspace. The range runs from the single-person Quell Office Pod Solo to six-person Quell meeting booths, with the full Quell range tested to ISO 23351-1:2020 and rated for 30-35 dB of noise reduction. Soundbox Store sells direct to businesses across the US, UK and Europe through its online store at soundboxstore.com.

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Website: https://soundboxstore.com