Avoiding the Cube Farm - Effective Office Floor Plans?

scorp1us asks: "My company, after cramming 30 people into 3000sq feet, has a new lease on life in a 7700sq foot office (pun blatantly intended!). We are primarily a 3D animation/software company and we hope to avoid the cube farm design, but with a large open area in the middle, it is the default solution. We would like to know what effective strategies are used at other places that avoid the cube farm, and produce an inspiring, motivating work environment. This location has a split level and 12' ceilings, so it has a lot of potential."

Comments

Electrical code violations

[Skapare]

Having electrical outlets in the wall subjects them to the National Electrical Code. This code would place a number of requirements on the methods of attaching the UPSes back to the wall wiring, requirements for overcurrent protection separate from the UPS on each such circuit, minimum available current (e.g. at least 15 amps), and type of wiring used (armored cable, most certainly not anything of extension cord grade). And the most serious violation is the one that requires all power to be shut down with no more than six disconnecting operations grouped together in one location.