Somewhere between the workplace strategy deck and the furniture schedule, the word neuroinclusion now turns up on most Australian fit-out briefs. It rarely arrives with a specification attached. Someone senior has read about it, the brief says the floor should work for people who process sound and light differently, and it lands on the person doing the furniture schedule to turn that into something you can actually order.
This is a guide to the part of that question a furniture supplier can honestly answer. A soundproof pod is not a health measure and we are not going to write about it as though it were. What it is, is a small room with a published acoustic test result and a door the occupant controls — and those two things are specifiable, measurable and defensible in a tender. Everything else on this page is about placing them so people will actually use them.
Chair Dinkum is an authorised Australian Framery dealer. We supply, deliver and install the range nationally from Pyrmont, Sydney. If you want to talk a floor plan through rather than read, call 02 9640 0642.
What neuroinclusion actually asks of a floor plan
Strip the language back and the design brief is narrow: the floor should offer more than one kind of place to work, and moving between them should not require anyone to explain themselves.
That is a procurement question, not a clinical one. It asks whether there is somewhere on the floor where the ambient noise is not a variable, whether that somewhere can be reached without crossing the whole building, and whether using it looks ordinary. Nothing in that list requires a diagnosis, and nothing in it is about a particular person. A floor built that way is easier for everyone who has ever tried to concentrate next to a stand-up meeting.
We are furniture people. The questions about adjustments for a specific employee belong with your HR and legal advisers, who will know what your obligations look like in your workplace — we are not lawyers and this is not legal advice. What we can tell you is what each pod measures, what it costs, what your certifier will ask, and where to put it.
The figures that are actually published
Two sets of numbers are worth having in the room when this comes up, and both are published by someone who is not us.
The first is the scale of the population the brief is talking about. The Australian Bureau of Statistics, in Autism in Australia, 2022, released 11 October 2024, counted 290,900 autistic Australians, 1.1% of the population, up from 205,200 in 2018. The same release found that 50.2% of working-age autistic Australians were participating in the labour force, against 84.9% of people without disability. Autism is one part of what a neuroinclusion brief covers rather than the whole of it, but it is the part the ABS measures, and a gap of that size is why the subject reaches a fit-out brief at all.
The second set is the one that belongs in your specification. Every pod in the Framery range is rated Class A, 30 DS,A dB speech level reduction under ISO 23351-1. That standard matters more than the number attached to it. It measures the assembled pod — walls, door seals, glazing and the ventilation path together — with a speech source at the height of a real person's mouth, which is the only way to test the thing you are actually buying. A bare decibel figure quoted with no standard and no class is usually a laboratory measurement of a single panel, and it is not comparable. We set out how to read those numbers, brand-neutrally, in our guide to comparing acoustic pods honestly.
Class A is a measured reduction in the speech level reaching the person inside. It is not silence, and anyone who tells you a pod is "inaudible" is overselling it. What it is, is a known quantity — which is exactly what a brief about sound should be asking for.
Why a quiet room and a neuroinclusive floor are not the same thing
The most common response to a neuroinclusion brief is to designate a quiet room. It is well meant and it usually fails, for reasons that are about human behaviour rather than acoustics.
A single designated room is a room with a meaning attached. Walking into it says something about you to everyone who watches you go. It is also, on most floors, the room furthest from where the work happens, because it was placed wherever the plan had space left over. And it is one room, so it is either free or it is not, and the person who needed it at 11am gets nothing.
A pod changes all three of those. It is used by the person taking a client call, the person who needs forty minutes on a spreadsheet, the two people who need to sort something out without an audience, and the person who wants the door shut for a while. Because everyone uses it, using it carries no signal. That is the whole of the "without isolating people" argument, and it is a placement and quantity decision rather than a product feature.
Which leads to the single most useful sentence we can give you, and it appears on every Framery page we write: put the pod near the people who need it. A pod pushed into a far corner because it tidied up the floor plan is a pod nobody books. If the walk to it is long enough to be noticed, it will be used for scheduled calls and nothing else, and the part of the brief you were trying to answer will go unanswered.
Quantity matters for the same reason. One pod on a floor of eighty is a meeting room with a waiting list. If the brief is about giving people a genuine choice, the pod has to be available at the moment the choice is being made, which in practice means several small ones rather than one large one.
What each model gives someone setting their own conditions
All three pods carry the same acoustic rating. Acoustics are not what separates them — footprint, fit-out and occupancy are. Here is what each one is for.
Framery One Compact — from $14,200
| Specification | Framery One Compact |
|---|---|
| Acoustic performance | Class A, 30 DS,A dB, ISO 23351-1 |
| Capacity | 1 person |
| Exterior dimensions | 225 × 103 × 100 cm |
| Floor footprint | 1.03 m² |
| Minimum room height | 235 cm |
| Maximum airflow | 36 L/s |
| Fit-out | Fold-out desk, power outlet, USB charging, LED lighting |
Suits you if you want several places on the floor rather than one good one. At 1.03 m² it goes into corridors, alcoves and touchdown zones, and at 235 cm it has the most forgiving room-height requirement in the range — which on a refurbished floor with services under the slab is often the specification that decides the whole question.
One figure surprises people: the Compact moves more air than the larger Framery One, 36 L/s against 26 L/s, into a smaller internal volume. If someone has told you to step up to the bigger booth because the small one will feel close, that reasoning is backwards.
Framery One — from $19,600
| Specification | Framery One |
|---|---|
| Acoustic performance | Class A, 30 DS,A dB, ISO 23351-1 |
| Capacity | 1 person |
| Exterior dimensions | 225.5 × 122 × 100 cm |
| Floor footprint | 1.22 m² |
| Minimum room height | 240 cm |
| Maximum airflow | 26 L/s, 28 W |
| Fit-out | Sit-stand desk, LED lighting, power and USB charging, Framery Smart connectivity |
Suits you if people will work inside the pod rather than duck into it. The sit-stand desk is the whole argument for the extra $5,400: it is what makes a two-hour block inside the pod reasonable instead of an endurance test, and it lets someone change position without leaving the space they came in for. The extra 19 cm of width is felt immediately, and it is the usual reason a client who trialled a Compact moves up.
Framery Smart connectivity is the other reason, and it is more relevant here than it sounds. It supports treating the pod as a bookable, managed resource — which is what turns "there is a pod somewhere" into "I can see that it is free at 2pm". Availability you can check is a different thing from availability you have to walk across the floor to discover.
Check 240 cm against a measured site dimension before you specify this one. It needs the tallest room in the range, taller than the Framery Four, and it is the check that kills a position outright.
Framery Four — from $31,800
| Specification | Framery Four |
|---|---|
| Acoustic performance | Class A, 30 DS,A dB, ISO 23351-1 |
| Capacity | Up to 4 people |
| Exterior dimensions | 232.9 × 235.2 × 129.2 cm |
| Floor footprint | 3.04 m² |
| Minimum room height | 238 cm |
| Ventilation | Adaptive, to 100 L/s, 52 W |
| Assembled weight | 520 kg |
| Fit-out | Central table with display mount, power and USB charging |
Suits you if the brief includes small-group work and not only solo focus. Four interior layouts are offered: Base leaves the space clear for your own furniture, Lite adds a full-sized table and two sofas, Essentials adds coat hooks and cushions, and Accessible uses folding furniture, a pull bar, an accessible threshold and a platform.
The Accessible layout deserves a line of its own on a brief like this, because it is the only configuration in the Framery range built for it — neither single-person booth offers an equivalent. If your project has an accessibility requirement and a neuroinclusion requirement, and most projects that have one now have the other, the Framery Four in the Accessible layout is the only product in the range that answers both.
Decide the layout early. It changes the power and display provisioning, and it is not a finish you swap later.
The three side by side
| One Compact | Framery One | Framery Four | |
|---|---|---|---|
| From | $14,200 | $19,600 | $31,800 |
| Capacity | 1 | 1 | Up to 4 |
| Footprint | 1.03 m² | 1.22 m² | 3.04 m² |
| Minimum room height | 235 cm | 240 cm | 238 cm |
| Airflow | 36 L/s | 26 L/s | To 100 L/s |
| Desk | Fold-out | Sit-stand | Central table, display mount |
| Acoustic class | Class A, 30 DS,A dB, ISO 23351-1 — identical across the range | ||
| Accessible layout | No | No | Yes |
Product pages, with full specifications, site-planning notes and warranty terms: Framery One Compact · Framery One · Framery Four.
What a pod does not do, and what to specify alongside it
A pod answers one variable on the floor. It is worth being plain about the rest, because a brief answered with pods alone is a brief half answered.
It does not change the desk someone sits at for the other seven hours. If part of what the brief is reaching for is people being able to move — change position, perch, stand, shift without making a performance of it — that is a chair question, and it is one we have written about at length in the HÅG Capisco and active sitting, carefully and without claiming a chair does anything to anybody. The HÅG range is where to look.
It does not fix screen height, and screen height is the other thing people quietly put up with. A monitor on a fixed stand is set for whoever assembled it. Our monitor arm comparison covers the range.
It does not solve lighting on the open floor, which is usually specified by your lighting consultant and is worth raising with them at the same time as this.
And if what you actually need is a quiet floor rather than quiet boxes on a loud floor, that is a bigger conversation about ceiling treatment, screens and layout. Bring us the floor plan and we will tell you honestly where furniture stops being the answer — that conversation is free and it saves people money more often than it makes us any.
What it costs in Australia
Indicative pricing, checked on our own store on 20 September 2026: $14,200 for the Framery One Compact, $19,600 for the Framery One, $31,800 for the Framery Four.
Final pricing depends on interior layout, finish, connectivity options, delivery location, site access and installation scope. All three are built to order and freighted from Finland, so lead times move with Framery's production schedule — we quote them per order rather than publishing a number we might not hold to. For a multi-pod order we will work from your floor plan and give you a delivery and installation sequence alongside the price.
If the figure that matters to you is the one over the life of the asset rather than the invoice, our guide to what a Framery pod costs to own sets out cost per person per year and what falls due after the purchase order closes.
Specifying it so it actually gets used
Five things decide whether the pods on your floor plan do the job the brief asked for.
- Position them where people are. Near the desks, on the way to somewhere, not in the corner the plan had spare.
- Buy enough of them. Several Compacts beat one Framery One if the brief is about choice being available at the moment it is needed.
- Make booking visible. A resource you can see is free is a resource people use. Raise Framery Smart connectivity with IT at design stage, not at handover.
- Check room height against a measured site dimension at the pod's intended position — 235 cm for the Compact, 240 cm for the Framery One, 238 cm for the Four. Not against a reflected ceiling plan. Services are rarely where the plan says.
- Name the installer in the specification, and require the completed installation report as a handover deliverable alongside the O&M documentation.
On that last point: Framery's cover runs 5 years on structure and standard parts, 2 years on wear parts, 2 years on electronics and 1 year on Framery Connect sensors. Two conditions decide whether that cover is live — the warranty must be activated by completing Framery's installation report form, and the pod must be installed by a Framery-trained installer. Where we install, we complete the report and use Framery-trained installers, so cover is live from handover. Full terms are on our warranty page. This warranty is in addition to your rights under the Australian Consumer Law.
One compliance note for New South Wales projects: Building Commission NSW practice advice issued 24 January 2025 states that office pods are rooms rather than furniture, and that their installation is to be treated as building work. No other state has published equivalent advice. Expect your certifier to ask about fire services, egress, accessibility, ventilation and — the one most often missed — whether the pod attenuates the building's occupant warning system. A pod good enough for Class A speech privacy is also good at muffling an alarm, so have it tested with the door shut.
Our recommendation
For a floor where the brief is genuinely about choice, specify several Framery One Compacts rather than one larger booth. The Compact is the cheapest way to put a controllable, acoustically tested space within short walking distance of everyone, its 235 cm room height clears more positions than either alternative, and quantity is the variable that decides whether the brief is answered.
Add a Framery One where people will genuinely work inside it for hours rather than take calls, because the sit-stand desk is what makes that reasonable.
Add a Framery Four in the Accessible layout if your project carries an accessibility requirement, because it is the only product in the range that does that job.
And whichever you specify, spend more thought on where it goes than on which model it is. The acoustic rating is identical across the range. The placement is not.
Send us your floor plan through the quote page, browse the Framery range, or call 02 9640 0642.
Frequently asked questions
Does a Framery pod make the office silent for the person inside?
No. Class A under ISO 23351-1 means a measured 30 DS,A dB reduction in the speech level reaching the person inside. It is a known, tested reduction rather than silence, and any supplier describing a pod as inaudible is overselling it.
Is a designated quiet room a cheaper way to answer a neuroinclusion brief?
It is usually cheaper and it usually gets used less. A single designated room carries a meaning, is normally placed wherever the plan had space left over, and is either free or it is not. A pod used by everyone for calls, focus and short meetings carries no signal, which is the point.
How many pods does a floor need?
Enough that one is available at the moment somebody decides they want it. One pod on a large floor becomes a meeting room with a waiting list. If the brief is about choice, several Compacts serve more people than one larger booth for the same money.
Which Framery model has the best acoustic rating?
They are identical. All three are Class A, 30 DS,A dB speech level reduction under ISO 23351-1. Acoustics are not what separates the models — footprint, fit-out and occupancy are.
Which model works in a room with a low ceiling?
The Framery One Compact, at a 235 cm minimum room height. The Framery Four needs 238 cm and the Framery One needs 240 cm, the tallest in the range. Check the figure against a measured site dimension at the pod's intended position rather than against a reflected ceiling plan.
Is there a Framery pod built for accessibility requirements?
Yes. The Framery Four is offered in an Accessible layout with folding furniture, a pull bar, an accessible threshold and a platform. It is the only configuration in the Framery range built for it, and neither single-person booth offers an equivalent.
Does the smaller pod feel stuffier than the larger one?
The Framery One Compact moves more air than the full Framery One, 36 L/s against 26 L/s, into a smaller internal volume. Ventilation is not a reason to step up to the larger booth — interior space and the sit-stand desk are.
Do we need building approval to install a pod in Australia?
In New South Wales, Building Commission NSW practice advice issued 24 January 2025 states that office pods are rooms rather than furniture and that their installation is to be treated as building work. No other state has published equivalent advice. Raise it with your certifier before you order rather than after delivery.
What does the Framery warranty cover?
Cover runs 5 years on structure and standard parts, 2 years on wear parts, 2 years on electronics and 1 year on Framery Connect sensors. It must be activated by completing Framery's installation report form and the pod must be installed by a Framery-trained installer. This warranty is in addition to your rights under the Australian Consumer Law.
References
- Australian Bureau of Statistics, Autism in Australia, 2022, released 11 October 2024
- Framery published product specifications, Framery One Compact, Framery One and Framery Four
- ISO 23351-1, speech level reduction of furniture ensembles
- Framery global warranty terms
- Building Commission NSW practice advice, 24 January 2025
- Prices and availability checked on chairdinkum.com.au, 20 September 2026
