How to measure for an office pod: ceiling, doors and lifts

Most pod problems are measuring problems: a beam nobody noticed, a lift that's a few centimetres too small, a door that can't open because a desk is in the way. Take these measurements before you order — you need a tape measure and a phone to take photos.

1. Ceiling height

• Measure from the finished floor to the lowest point above where the pod will stand: beams, bulkheads, light fittings, ducts, air-conditioning units and suspended-ceiling grids all count.
• Our pods are 220 cm tall, and the phone booth is 224 cm.
• Smoke detectors: building-standards consultancy Sweco advises a 500 mm clear zone around them and says pods should not encroach on it. If a detector is directly above, keep at least 50 cm between it and the top of the pod.
• Sprinklers: if the pod will stand under sprinkler heads, ask your sprinkler contractor how a pod with a roof affects coverage.

2. Floor space

Mark the footprint on the floor with masking tape, then walk around it. These are our pods' external sizes:

• Door swing: leave room in front of the pod for its door to open fully and for someone to step in and out. We confirm each model's door width and opening side on the call.
• Walkways: a pod shouldn't narrow a corridor or block the way to a fire exit.
• Inside: the sizes above are external. Ask for internal sizes if you're planning furniture.

3. The route in

Walk the route from the delivery entrance to the final spot and measure every opening on the way: doors (clear width and height, with the door fully open), corridors, tight turns, the lift car and its doors, and any stairs or steps.

Our Solo Phone Booth arrives fully assembled at 105 × 105 × 224 cm, so every opening on the way in must be at least 105 cm wide. For comparison, Approved Document M — the access guidance for new homes in England — sets a minimum clear opening of 775 mm for a new home's main entrance door, and 750–800 mm for internal doors, depending on the width of the corridor. A door built to those minimums is well short of 105 cm, so look for double doors, a goods lift or a loading entrance.

The booth is also 224 cm tall, so note the height of each opening and any low points on turns and stairs. We plan the handling with you on the call.

For the Focus Work Capsule and the meeting pods, we confirm the delivery format with you on the call. The Meeting Pod 1–7 is 250 cm wide, so have the route measurements ready.

4. Access at the pod door

Sweco's guidance is that pods should ideally be accessible to everyone. That means a level threshold — or, if a raised one can't be avoided, no more than 15 mm high in total, with any upstand over 5 mm chamfered or rounded — and a 300 mm clear space beside the leading edge of the door on the pull side. Where a pod isn't wheelchair accessible, Sweco says other accessible rooms with the same function should be provided.

5. Power

The phone booth and Solo Work Pod plug into a standard wall socket, so choose a spot within reach of one and avoid trailing cables across walkways. For the Focus Work Capsule and the meeting pods, we confirm the power supply on the call.

6. Your checklist

Paste this into the “Anything we should know?” box when you send your basket, or have it ready for the call:

• Ceiling height at the spot, to the lowest point.
• Anything directly above: smoke detector, sprinkler head, light fitting.
• Floor space available (width × length), including room for the door.
• Narrowest door on the route: clear width × height.
• Lift: car width × depth × height, door opening and load limit.
• Stairs or steps on the route, and the floor level.
• Distance to the nearest wall socket.
• Delivery postcode and any access times or parking limits.

Or use the fit checker: enter your measurements and it shows which pods fit, then adds them to your basket request.