On the bustling floor of the Semaphore Global Economy Conference in Washington, D.C., this week, a row of glass-doored WeWork pods next to a window provide a much-needed refuge for entrepreneurs, journalists and other attendees looking for a quiet space to get some work done. WeWork launched these mobile workspaces, called WeWork Go, at the event. It’s the company’s latest effort to meet the changing needs of management workers in a post-coronavirus world. The architect behind the project, Ebbie Wisecarver, WeWork’s chief design and product officer, said the pods were inspired by the popularity of phone booths at WeWork office locations.
“The business has changed and expanded. We have been exploring this introduction idea [a product] “This is outside the walls of our spaces,” Wisecarver told the Observer near one of those pods. In the era of returning to the office, the designer has noticed a sharp decline in companies that still want traditional offices and a growing need for flexibility. “They’re more comfortable with flexible spaces, softer seating and less heavy desk spaces. The room may be a conference room, but it can also be someone’s office,” she said.
The pod at the Semafor event features a pale oak desk, a restaurant booth-style seat large enough for one person and a large suitcase (although not wide enough for an adult to recline — Wisecarver is ambivalent about the growing trend of Nap pods in the workplace), a coat hook and a few electrical outlets. The design stays true to WeWork’s familiar aesthetic of soft colors, sleek lines, and natural light that evokes the feeling of home.
These capsules are designed for airports, convention centers, office lobbies and other high-traffic public spaces. They rent for about $15 to $20 per half hour, depending on location. WeWork Go comes in three models: a single-user pod for independent work, a multi-user version that fits up to four people, and an ADA-compliant model designed for universal accessibility.
Wisecarver has been with WeWork since 2015, through various turbulent phases for the company that was valued at $47 billion at its peak. Long gone are the days when WeWork was a high-flying unicorn in Silicon Valley. After years of founder-led excesses followed by a pandemic collapse, WeWork emerged from bankruptcy in 2024 with a new CEO, real estate veteran John Santora, a more traditional governance structure, and a more cautious strategy.
“We are working in the midst of a tectonic shift in how companies use real estate. It is no longer one-size-fits-all. Flexibility now goes hand-in-hand with traditional leases, and our spaces are designed to support that reality,” Santora told the Observer via email. “The design of our spaces – whether a full office or WeWork Go pods – is a direct reflection of our mission to unlock a smarter way of working.”
Wisecarver’s design team is now smaller than it was a few years ago — about 180 people in total, including 20 designers — with some functions such as customer support and project management outsourced. The WeWork Go pods themselves are manufactured by furniture manufacturer Bureau.
How WeWork’s design takes shape
Wisecarver said many design decisions at WeWork are made based on data the company collects about its users’ evolving needs. But as an architect by training, she draws inspiration from everywhere, from fashion to hospitality. “I’ve always been interested in space and how people move from private spaces to public spaces,” she said. “I always think that work is not just a place where you go and work hard. It should also be a space you enjoy, where you can interact.”
Wisecarver started at WeWork as a project manager in Australia before helping launch locations in China, Singapore, Japan and India. In those countries, I studied how cultural norms shape the look and feel of workplaces and how thoughtful design can in turn influence how people work. In Japan, for example, the office is often “a place people can’t wait to leave at the end of the day,” she said. To alleviate this feeling, WeWork has added features such as Horigotatsua type of sunken seat often found in Japanese homes and restaurants.
“People would stay and have a drink after work, and hang out a little bit longer. It became a step back from the traditional idea of work,” Weiscarver said. “Social spaces are becoming inclusive, and work is part of that.”
More recently, WeWork has become a hub for AI startups, occupying nearly a third of its global locations. Wisecarver notes some distinct preferences of AI founders. “It’s interesting how important aesthetics are to them. They have a very clear design aesthetic: They want the space to feel warm and cozy,” she notes. “And in conference rooms and smaller spaces — like private offices, phone booths or phone rooms — you can really see that attention to detail. They really want to have that sense of brand, which is great.”
As AI reduces time spent on administrative tasks and human interaction and creativity become central to workplaces, Santora predicted that within a year, offices will become more “deliberate.” “It will serve as a center for collaboration, innovation and culture, rather than a place for routine tasks that can be done anywhere,” he said. “The transformation is already underway. Over the next decade, the companies that win will be the ones that win That design their own workspaces and And their ways of working around it.”