Another, published in 2016, looked at a couple hundred Germans working in similar jobs but different office layouts and found that, based on their answers to an online survey, those in more open layouts reported worse general health and wellness.
Some reductions in office space reflect staff cutbacks; others reflect management decisions to house more employees in less room as part of a nationwide movement toward more open layouts of offices.
"With the more open office layouts, buildings now can hold more people than before, and we didn't have enough parking onsite," Mr. Pepe said.
Taking down the mural during a renovation brought more light into the lobby and made the layout more open, MetLife executives have said, so they decided not to put it back up.
One thing to note right out of the gate is that it seems to be much more spaced out: the distances between app icons and their names have increased a bit, and though the change is minor, it makes the whole layout more open.
Holly Barn, a contemporary, architect-designed East Anglian long house, may have the modern requisites of ample space and light, but its open layout serves more than just an aesthetic purpose: its owner, Alan Rogers, has arthritis and uses a wheelchair.
The distances between app icons and their names have increased a bit, and though the change is minor, it makes the whole layout feel more open.
She has high hopes that the new space, which will have an open layout, will foster more collaboration and better communication among her staff.
Pages of a mock issue that Mr. Meacham displayed in his office on West 57th Street in Manhattan show a cleaner, less cluttered layout that has more open space and fewer pages that seem an uninterrupted sea of words.
