The Pod

Branded mobile podcasting studio designed to invite activity and reference the BBC heritage of the emerging White City Place development.

Client Stanhope, Mitsui Fudosan, Aimco
Sector High Streets & Communities
Size 12m²
Location White City Place, London

Creative agency DNCO challenged us to design a striking, mobile outdoor studio to enable brands, entrepreneurs and publications to take their first steps into the world of podcasting, as part of their placemaking brand strategy for White City Place.

The Pod, located in this emerging creative business district in west London – formerly home to the BBC – was designed as a moveable temporary structure for the recording of podcasts. The 12sqm cube seats up to six people and provides a fully functional studio.

Thought Starters was a podcast broadcast from The Pod exploring the intersection of business, creativity, and technology. The four-year series featured interviews with industry leaders, designers, and scientists, covering topics from consumer psychology and sustainability to architecture and art.

As well as serving local creative businesses at White City Place, The Pod went ‘on tour’ during London Design Festival 2018, hosting episodes of Thought Starters from Brompton Design District and Exhibition Road outside the V&A Museum.

Following its launch in 2018, The Pod featured in several international publications including Wallpaper, Design Week and Creative Review, won Property Marketing Award’s Best Creative Element and was shortlisted for the NLA Awards.

Mike Horton, Development Manager Stanhope PLC
‘Having worked closely with Fathom on the creation of The Pod, we found them to be energetic, accommodating and creative; being able to deliver the project within a limited budget, tight time frame and emerging brief from an initial conceptual idea. We are delighted with the outcome and possibly more importantly so, are the creative users’.

Inspired by transmission

Our concept took inspiration from loudspeakers and the movement of sound to create a disrupted cube with audio waves emanating from its centre.

We designed the 3.4m x 3.4m cube with large circular windows, referencing speaker cones, allowing a strong visual connection between the broadcasters and passers-by.

The bold patterned façade of The Pod was created by translating the first spoken words transmitted by radio: “One, two, three, four. Is it snowing where you are Mr Thiessen?” into sound wave interference patterns, using bespoke digital scripting.

The sound waves are represented by 350,000 ‘pixels’ using a colour palette drawn from the development’s branding.

First Spoken Words

Wave Form

Delivering The Pod

An ambitious brief, short timeframe and non-standard project typology created a set of delivery challenges which required an innovative approach to construction.

Collaborating with Box Deluxe – a fabrication studio specialising in structures for film, TV and live events – we conceived and developed a viable design with a strong visual aesthetic.

Wholly fabricated off-site, the structure was winched to its final location overnight, achieving the client’s aspiration for a pod which ‘appears from nowhere’.

Continuing to support community

Originally designed as a short-term place activation, The Pod was used well beyond it’s intended lifespan and continues to contribute to culture today.

Seven years after it landed at White City Place, we were incredibly happy to hear that The Pod had a new home and purpose at The Small Quarter, a community garden in South London dedicated to helping individuals with their mental health through growing food and getting involved in art and making activities.

Providing a welcoming indoor space within the garden, The Pod is helping The Small Quarter continue supporting their local community.

Huge thanks to Savills and Event Cycle for ensuring that The Pod continues to have a useful life and a lasting impact.