Open and shut case as City firms weigh up benefits of working environments

City firms piloting open-plan offices have given a mixed reaction, after some solicitors complained it hindered their concentration, while others welcomed it as a triumph for teamworking.Allen & Overy and Linklaters have both recently taken part in pilots - helped by architects Pringle Brandon - aimed at encouraging teamwork, saving space and reducing costs by getting rid of 'cellular' offices.

Slaughter and May has also used the architects to explore the idea in the past.Allen & Overy tested the new system of working on 120 employees in its projects group, putting desks in horseshoe-shaped clusters (see [2001] Gazette, 6 July, 8).

Linklaters limited its pilot to 22 staff members, with a large desk as the main point of activity and separate meeting rooms to give a measure of privacy.Both firms allocated separate 'quiet rooms' where staff could work uninterrupted, and gave out telephone headsets to minimise noise.

The firms also overhauled their IT systems in a bid to develop paperless offices, giving staff laptops to create more space.

Shorter desks, flat screens and more efficient use of storage space were also put in place.

An Allen & Overy spokesman said the firm had found open-plan working to be a 'huge success' with staff at all levels.

He added: 'The main benefit was that everyone was more in tune with what their colleagues were working on.'Though it made the best use of space, Linklaters has decided against moving to an open-plan environments as a result of feedback from its project.

Slaughter and May has since opted to stay with cellular offices for all its fee-earners in its new offices, which it is scheduled to move into shortly.Diana Good, a Linklaters litigation partner, said the firm had given open-plan working a fair chance among a cross-section of staff.

'There were certain aspects of the scheme people enjoyed, but ultimately the combination of noise levels and disruption affected people's concentration, and their productivity reduced,' she explained.

'Once it became clear there was a problem that would remain whatever adjustments we made, we had to conclude that it would not be sensible to roll it out to the rest of the firm.Paula Rohan