Work & Rest·7 min read·Premium
- Work
Open-plan offices: the evidence companies chose to ignore
They were installed to boost collaboration. When someone measured it, the opposite happened. What the data show and how to redesign without going back to cubicles.
The promise was beautiful and it was repeated in thousands of slide decks: tearing down the walls would increase collaboration, creativity and transparency. For two decades, companies around the world remodelled their spaces on that premise. Rarely did anyone measure whether it was true.
When it was finally measured, the result was uncomfortable.
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