I would take a vertical coffin of office space if it came with a door. Something to block out the audio and visual noise and supported whatever horizontal space was needed to host my monitors.
I realize some people could not handle the claustrophobia, but for those that can this seems like an easy win to minimize footprints while isolating those who are bothered by the distractions of others.
Peopleware also covers the subject of the working space quite well.
People in charge just don't want to listen. You spend millions of dollars paying the people and after that you cheap out on office space. But hey, the people responsible for the office can point at how they saved money and it's also really hard to measure the productivity loss so it must not mater.
The Zero Theorem has a brilliant treatment of open seating toward the beginning.
It’s really worth watching the film (that one scene is worth it on its own) but you can get a glimpse of the seating arrangement and the manager after “We is stressed” in the trailer:
open offices never have coat racks. I've been told it's because they don't like they look nice. In one office I worked in people just threw their jackets on the floor, especially when it was rainy out and they couldn't be kept on the back of a chair.
I wouldn't mind that at all, though I'd need some way to sit for a bit - I don't intend to stand for 8 hours a day, especially not without room to walk a bit.
The other advantage would be able to go "BLAAHH!" every time the manager interrupted your flow.
There's phone booths for companies that are already being produced & sold. It actually has a fan to just vent air out and take it in from the bottom. Nothing blowing on your head...
Or fan sucking air upwards -- negative pressure. Tiny floor registers may help with convection too, in order to maintain temperature.
I've been running my bathroom exhaust fan while WFHing these days and it's been getting rid of all kinds of smells and vapors in my apartment without me opening the windows.
Just be aware of where the air is coming into your apartment from. If it's coming through the walls or attic and being 'filtered' through decades old insulation potentially filled with animal droppings or carcases it's probably not that great for you. Modern builds have HRVs which bring in fresh filtered air from outside.
I think, minimally, to not feel too cramped inside an enclosed office, I'd probably need near 100 square feet to myself, and I couldn't imagine even functioning in less than about 60 square feet.
You just have to remember that you're not confined to that space. So you close that door and you crash out what you need to do. Then you stand up, and you go for a walk outside that space to relieve the cramped feeling.
What also helps is to also have a Window that looks out into something green. If I'm sick of looking at my screen and need to think, I get to look out and watch dogs play at a daycare which is immensely relieving.
I am willing to put up with so much more shit having this peaceful environment, I feel like it is win win for my company+clients, and myself.
I realize some people could not handle the claustrophobia, but for those that can this seems like an easy win to minimize footprints while isolating those who are bothered by the distractions of others.