Re: Monasteries had it right centuries ago
Did the Romans work in open plan offices? And what effect did the spread of Christianity have on hot-desking practices?
I think that depends on the order in question. According to Wikipedia "In the earliest Benedictine monasteries, the writing room was actually a corridor open to the central quadrangle of the cloister. The space could accommodate about twelve monks, who were protected from the elements only by the wall behind them and the vaulting above.". Sounds open-plan to me, although other orders used individual cells.