In retrospect, I think that Bell Labs did a good job with space. Private offices, though they cost more than open areas, give people peace and quiet, a place to focus without constant noise in the background, storage for books and papers, and a door to close for intense thought or private conversations. By now, I’v e spent enough time in open-plan work areas to know that, for me at least, they are utterly destructive of concentration. The Bell Labs mixture of one’s own private office and a shared space for the community worked very well.
