Oddly, I have the same reaction as your first two paragraphs to most cube-farm offices I’ve been in. I don’t doubt that cost/cramming may be part of the calcul

Oddly, I have the same reaction as your first two paragraphs to most cube-farm offices I’ve been in. I don’t doubt that cost/cramming may be part of the calculus but there are many types of work and scenarios that can benefit from not sitting for hours on end in near-total silence. This might be an over-index in the other direction, but certainly the aesthetic is intended to be a departure; it isn’t supposed to be an “office”