Whitney Brothers® Nature View Serenity Pod Wins Spaces4Learning 2021 New Product Award

Award recognizes the inventiveness of new activity desk concept for Early Learners and marks the third product design award in the company’s exclusive biophilia-inspired Nature View Collection.

Early Learning furniture brand Whitney Brothers® today announced its new Nature View Serenity Pod received the 2021 Spaces4Learning New Product Award, one of the most widely recognized awards for product innovation in the educational products market.

The Nature View Serenity Pod is an inventive biophilia-inspired interpretation of a pod study carrel for Early Learners that enables unlimited configurations in physical space design and supports flexible learning environments. Notably, 2021 marks the company’s second consecutive win of the award and three in the last five years, vaulting it to a select group of brands.

Now in its seventh year, the Spaces4Learning New Product Award program honors manufacturers and suppliers whose products or services are judged for their ability to enhance learning environments. The contest judges are members of the publication’s Editorial Advisory Board, a panel of executives and professionals from leading industry vendors, industry associations, and architecture firms.

“This year’s New Product Award competition drew a unique mixture of solutions for K–12 and higher education, from products designed to protect the health and safety of students, faculty and staff to tools designed to enhance teaching and learning, whether in-person or remote,” said David Nagel, editorial director of Spaces4Learning. “We congratulate all of our winners and thank them for the work they’re doing for education at this critical time.”

Scientific studies show that biophilic design can reduce stress, enhance creativity, focus clarity of thought, and improve well-being, benefits that can foster a child’s deep connection to their learning environment and set the trajectory of their future learning outcomes. In early 2020, Whitney Brothers® launched the first biophilia-inspired furniture collection designed for Early Learning environments, the Nature View Collection. In that same year, the Nature View Collection received the 2020 Spaces4Learing New Product Award and the product line now encompasses over 32 separate furniture pieces, three of which have earned individual product design awards.

The open, elegant design of the Nature View Serenity Pod accommodates social distancing and activity workspace in Early Learning environments, a nod to the impact of covid-19 on student desk design. The stunning woodland scene printed on the curved acrylic panel brings the calm of nature indoors and creates a comforting personalized activity space for young children that also provides important visibility for adult supervision. Multiple pods joined together can form an S-shape, semi-circle, horseshoe or myriad other configurations to create an aesthetically pleasing and flexible learning space that coordinates seamlessly with all other pieces in the company’s Nature View Collection.

“We’re honored to receive the award, but mostly we’re excited how the judges’ decision reinforces the importance of biophilia-inspired design to our littlest learners” said Mike Jablonski, president of Whitney Brothers®. “It signals an understanding and acceptance of how biophilia design can positively affect a young child’s connection to their learning environment. That’s the overall goal of our Nature View Collection, which the Serenity Pod Desk supports convincingly.”

Suggested retail price for the WB2611 Nature View Serenity Pod is $669. Availability is immediate through authorized Whitney Brothers® dealers.

For more information, please visit: www.whitneybros.com/nature-view-serenity-pod

About Spaces4Learning

Spaces4Learning is a leading publication for education institutions, the architectural community, service providers and others interested in creating high-quality facilities. The brand’s magazine, website and digital products bring together a broad array of vital resources and services that keep facilities professionals abreast of current issues, trends and research; provide professional development opportunities; and connect those sharing a common interest.

About Whitney Brothers®

Founded in 1904, Whitney Brothers® invented wood furniture for Early Learning and Institutional Childcare and pioneered its commercial distribution through educational distributors and dealers in schools, childcare centers, Head Start facilities, churches, libraries, museums, and residential homes throughout North America and the world. The brand’s rich 117-year heritage spans old world craftsmanship blended with state-of-the-art CNC manufacturing technology to create award-winning products of uncompromising quality, design, innovation, safety, durability and value. Each product is UL GREENGUARD® Gold Certified, qualifies for LEED credits, meets or exceeds applicable CPSIA, ASTM and BIFMA requirements, is supported by a Limited Lifetime Warranty, and proudly made in America.