If you’re here, you may already know Natural Pod creates high-quality, non-toxic wood furniture for early learning and K-12 learning spaces with an emphasis on beauty, functionality, and environmental awareness. I’d like to expand on those last three points and what they mean to us. But an important part of our mission as a company is not to tell you how your learning space should be; rather our intention is to partner with you in creating a space that aligns with your vision. We do believe that all children should have access to healthy, inspiring learning environments – as I’m sure you do as well. This is why we do the work we do. And when it comes to bringing your vision of an inspiring, functional learning space to life, we find the best outcomes are achieved when we explore ideas together!
Never has there been a time like the last 18 months that’s propelled us into questioning and shifting the learning paradigm. If you’re up for change, we’re here to be your partner in the journey to make the magic happen.
The goal of the Natural Pod team is always to create better learning environments at the intersection of sustainability, pedagogy and great design; with our commitment to creating healthy learning environments being deeply rooted in being a socially and environmentally responsible business. We honor these commitments in everything we do. To unpack that further, let’s take a deeper look at the areas we focus on when creating our furniture: beauty, functionality – and how that supports teaching and learning – and sustainability and environmental responsibility.
Beauty
Design is considered ‘great’ when it deeply considers the needs of the end user and how to make their lives more fulfilling. That is something we certainly do at Natural Pod. We use clean lines and natural materials to create a visually calm and beautiful space that feels warm and welcoming. The flowing curves in many of our furniture designs are not only beautiful, but echo the lines found in nature, and along with our use of high quality wood brings some of the outside in, offering students that connection to nature and all its benefits. By having access to thoughtfully designed, sustainable learning furniture that’s been created with learners in mind, this lets them know they are valued and they matter. The result being they gain greater confidence in their own abilities and a deeper connection to their own learning.
Functionality, and how it supports teaching and learning
Having a beautiful product doesn’t matter if it doesn’t easily meet the needs of the users it was designed for. Natural Pod products offer a simple solution for educators and learners providing an environment where they can thrive. Our range of functional, flexible and multipurpose learning furniture can really support educators and students in the ways they teach and learn best. There are various functions and countless arrangements possible when using the same pieces of furniture. Each piece is exceptionally durable and strong, yet lightweight enough for young people and educators to easily move them. Everything can be quickly reconfigured, making for smooth transitions in the learning space that evolve with the unit of study, shift by class period, accommodate individual student needs, and support spontaneous teachable moments.
Natural Pod furniture contributes to learning environments that:
- inspire and support students in trusting their ideas and abilities.
- foster creativity and innovation.
- put students at the center of their learning.
- give students and teachers a role in shaping their spaces collaboratively.
Sustainability and environmental responsibility
What does sustainability and environmental responsibility mean to you? To us, it means using responsibly harvested, renewable resources. Resources that connect us with the ecosystem we’re part of. Resources that are built to last, not to add to landfills and replace. Sustainability also means the furniture can shift and grow with you as your teaching and learning needs evolve. We see sustainable practices as supporting the students, educators, and the community. We are one of the few companies in the world creating learning furniture with high sustainability standards and material certifications. Our wood products are ethically manufactured in British Columbia, Canada, and made with FSC® Chain of Custody Group certified materials; these meet LEED credit standards, and contain less than 1% PVC. Our commitment to investing in sustainable practices is fundamental to our support of children, community, and planet.
The areas of beauty, functionality and environmental responsibility overlap when you’re designing holistic learning furniture that truly supports students and educators. This is why we choose to partner with educators and stakeholders rather than be a catalog company, promoting pages of products and prices. Choosing furniture from a price list does not produce the best learning environments, and therefore it doesn’t produce the best learning outcomes either. We want to partner in designing intentional, supportive learning environments starting with a conversation about your vision and what you’d ideally like to achieve. These real conversations allow you to align your values with your intended space.
I hope this deeper expansion into our work at Natural Pod has given you a greater understanding of what we do, why we do it, and what our intention and offering is to all stakeholders involved in creating better learning environments. Do our values align with your own? My team and I would love to know. And if they do, let’s start a conversation.
Bridgitte Alomes, Founder and CEO of Natural Pod