A “closed” office design includes private inner sanctums, small group common areas, and large group common areas. Think academia: my grad student friends have s

A “closed” office design includes private inner sanctums, small group common areas, and large group common areas. Think academia: my grad student friends have shared or sometimes private offices in little clusters of 5 that surround a small conference room or lounge. Then down the hall is the big department lounge. A much greater range of preferences are satisfiable with this layout. The same people are also allowed to have varying preferences depending on the time of day or phase of project, and to wander with their laptops.