[hajile]

In my experience semi-open layouts are the best. A handful people working in the same room on the same project generally seems to work well at encourage pair programming and exchange of information while having an actual room isolates from other distractions.

That said, I think in the programming world, remote work will eventually become the new office because it's the ultimate cost cutter and greatly opens up the pool of applicants.

[Spooky23]

I agree. My most productive environment was either 2 or 4 person offices. The weakness was the common space.

IMO a dorm suite like layout would be great... have a pod of offices supporting 20 people with a shared common area.

[maxxxxx]

Agree. 2 to 4 is very nice. That would be my setup too. It's not even necessary to work on the same things.

[r00fus]

I prefer the hybrid approach: common semi-open room, plentiful breakout areas that can double as part-time offices.