The secrets of the "ideal" open plan office revealed

What makes the ideal open-plan office? Researchers at UCL have used data analysis, video observation and surveys to study how we interact at work and come up with an answer. First, you need open space or a walkway where staff can move around the office but this needs to be linked to areas where staff can chat and also engage those who might walk past in conversation if only for 30 seconds. Such creative interaction is one of the key benefits of open plan offices, according to video observations scientists at UCL Bartlett School of Architecture used to measure the effectiveness of staff at one of Britain's top advertising agencies. However, staff also need quieter contemplative zones for writing or reading reports, which should be separated from the "fly-by" creative conversation areas, said Professor Alan Penn, Dean of the Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment, who disclosed the findings at yesterday's (Tues) UCL's weekly lunchtime lecture. One of the best examples of creative interplay in action was found at the Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge which has produced more Nobel prize-winners in chemistry or medicine from a single building than all of France. The building had knocked through areas between the laboratory bays which were adjacent to a corridor. "What we observed is that people walking around would stop and join a conversation in a door of a laboratory," said Professor Penn.