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Episode details

Radio 4,19 Jul 2013,28 mins

The Search for the Perfect Office

Available for over a year

More and more of us work in open plan offices, which can be noisy and lead to strife between those staff who are tidy and their neighbours who like to leave papers and dirty plates on their desks and between those who are quiet and their colleagues who talk loudly on the phone. Claudia Hammond explores what the perfect office would look like if the latest psychological research was applied. She discovers that it is possible to work in open plan spaces and be able to concentrate, be creative and communicate well with colleagues. And she asks why many architects aren't aware of the research of psychologists or ignore it.

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