POBO

Rotterdam, the Netherlands

pop-up bicycle office
product design

You are able to go to a certain destination with a POBO bicycle, especially when the sun is shining cheerfully.
Any destination, where people would like to work, meet and present on that day. Like a pocketknife, the POBO bicycle unfolds and makes a certain composition of the workspace based on the necessities for the day. POBO is a bicycle with a folding work tray at the back. The work box can be transformed into an extended multifunctional table, a high-standing table and a presentation whiteboard and the chairs in the box can be folded open. The transformations provide the opportunity to work, alone or in a group, to meet, to have lunch and to present.

Why is it useful?
The open plan office model where everyone is crammed into a room needs to be reconsidered. There are clear consequences: less productivity, more illness reports, poorer quality communication. Especially now, the COVID-19 situation is causing more health concerns in closed office spaces.

Where can it work better than in nature? The proven place to reduce your cortisol, or stress hormone, which benefits your productivity. The result is less gray hair and better work. A place where nature meets work in a traditional Dutch way: by bicycle in the open air. Alone or together, a mobile co-workspace!

What’s the next plan?
The design must be tested and a material study carried out with the executor. A prototype is crucial to be able to do the studies and we especially need financial help for making a prototype (Mock-up), reflecting and finally perfecting. The execution takes place largely in the studio by De Bende Rotterdam. Their expertise is making creative objects/furniture.

The long-term expectation of the project is that we will continue to exhibit, present and sell the object for years until there is a new trend of working. Possibly, the possibility to be able to adjust POBO based on the new trend.