[closed] How can an office be designed in order to achieve success, happiness, and efficiency?

Hi Aimee, this will be a great question to research and present as a senior report or graduate project - so keep it in mind if you're required to do such ahead! Here within Silicon Valley, office designs have evolved quite rapidly over the last few decades. In the 1980s, often each person, or 2 - 3 persons, were provided with a personal office with a closing door. Then, in the '90s or so, trends changed to have people sit within cubicles, often in work-group clusters (some companies still use this arrangement). The most recent approaches, however, have been to eliminate cubicles altogether in favor of work surfaces (like a table). For example, I work at an electrically-adjustable table, where I often stand to do my job, while the surfaces of my work-group partners are in the same area. There is less personal privacy this way, but it can't be beat in terms of easy communication, which I really like! You can see how some of our office looks like here: http://www.chegg.com/jobs/. And if you do that report, try reaching out to some various companies, to find out how they approach this question - I'm quite certain they'll be happy to respond in some fashion.

One other thought: Lots of meeting spaces, break out areas, and meeting rooms are a good thing! They're always in demand. Many work forces are global, too, so having the ability to do audio or video conferencing, via personal laptops with Skype or such, is quite essential to productivity.