Acoustic Panels vs. Meeting Pods: Which One Does Your Office Need?
Open offices are great for collaboration. They're not always great for focus, private conversations, or the kind of deep work that requires quiet.
There are two product categories that solve this problem — acoustic panels and meeting pods — and they're often confused for each other. They're not interchangeable. They solve different things. Here's how to think about which one belongs in your space, how to budget for each, and when to use both.
What Acoustic Panels Do
Acoustic panels absorb sound within a space. They reduce echo, lower the ambient noise level, and make open-plan environments feel calmer and easier to work in. They don't create private space — they improve the acoustic quality of the space that already exists.
The Apricot acoustic lineup includes wall panels and ceiling baffles. Array and Noya are PET wall panels that mount directly to the wall surface, available in a range of colours and sizes. Afloat ceiling baffles hang from the ceiling and address sound in larger, taller spaces. Both are made from recycled PET material, which is durable, easy to specify, and straightforward to install.
Pricing runs from $455 for Afloat ceiling baffles to $515–$525 for Array and Noya wall panels. Lead time is 7 weeks — shorter than most acoustic products on the market.
Panels are the right solution when your core problem is ambient noise: conversations bleeding across the floor, echo in meeting rooms, that background buzz that makes it hard to focus. They're also one of the most visually impactful additions you can make to a space — a well-specified wall panel installation changes the feel of a room immediately.
What Meeting Pods Do
A meeting pod is a freestanding enclosed space — a room within a room. It creates genuine acoustic privacy: you can have a phone call, a confidential conversation, or a focused work session without disturbing anyone around you, and without being disturbed. Unlike panels, pods block sound rather than just absorbing it.
The Apricot Sona series covers three configurations. The Sona Solo is a one-person phone booth at $7,200 — the right choice for companies with open-plan layouts where private calls are a daily frustration. The Sona Duo is a two-person pod at $12,750, suited to small meetings, interviews, or video calls that need a door. The Sona Quad accommodates four people at $15,250 and functions as a proper small meeting room without construction.
Lead time for Sona pods is 16 weeks, so they require more planning runway than panels.
Pods are the right solution when your problem is about privacy, not just noise level. If people are stepping into hallways to take calls, if you don't have enough enclosed rooms for the number of people who need them, or if construction isn't an option in your lease — a pod solves the problem directly.
How to Choose
The simplest way to think about it: panels fix how a space sounds. Pods fix where people go when they need to be alone.
In practice, most offices benefit from both. A well-designed open-plan floor might have acoustic panels on the walls to manage ambient noise and one or two Sona Solos positioned near the workstations for private calls. They work together — the panels reduce the background noise that would otherwise bleed into the pod, and the pod handles what panels can't.
Budget-wise, panels are the accessible starting point. A single wall of Array panels can transform a meeting room or a collaborative zone for under $1,000. Pods are a larger investment, but they replace the need for expensive construction and deliver a permanent, flexible solution.
If you're working with a tight budget, start with panels. If your team is constantly searching for a quiet space to work or talk, add a Solo to the mix first.
Let's Get Started
Not sure what your office needs? Share your floor plan with us at verveoffice.ca and we'll put together a recommendation — including acoustics, pods, and a full furniture package if needed. Complimentary space planning, no obligation.
