Tearing down the walls. (redesign of office space to encourage teamwork)

Companies are redesigning their office space to encourage teamwork and break down hierarchies. But Is the open office plan a cultural revolution or just more cost cutting?

Some of John Lewis' counterparts at other companies no doubt questioned his sanity. The courtly Lewis, chief financial officer of Andersen Worldwide Services in Chicago, voluntarily discarded one of the treasured perks in business: A sumptuous, spacious corner office with a gorgeous vista of downtown Chicago and Lake Michigan, a private bathroom, conference room, space for his secretary, and a seating area.

Today, Lewis' more modest office is perhaps one-tenth its former size and is plunked down amid other employees on a largely wall-free floor that emphasizes shared space. And he seems genuinely happy about the switch, made late last year. "I was sheltered in the traditional Ivory Tower office with the traditional gatekeeper, the whole military model of the '50s which still pervades much of Corporate America," says Lewis. "In this new environment, I and most other employees are communicating more, and interaction between departmental functions is increasing."

Lewis' willingness to part with his traditional executive suite and take part in a massive shake-up in office design is echoed increasingly throughout the corporate world. For many companies, the office now has an open architectural environment, flooded with natural daylight, in which executives' and managers' desks sit out among the troops, there are more informal and formal meeting and shared spaces, fewer offices are enclosed, and quarters are more densely populated.

Some companies report these nontraditional arrangements, or variations of them, are enhancing and speeding up communication and interaction between employees and promoting nonhierarchical, team-building, even fun workplaces - critical assets, supporters say, for knowledge-based employees working in an increasingly fast-paced and competitive world. Not surprisingly, backers contend, such environments will help companies reap sizable dividends in productivity, quality, worker and customer satisfaction, and, ultimately, revenues.

Perhaps one of the best indications of supporters' embrace of alternative designs is that they can't fathom returning to the old days of multiple, enclosed offices and windowless, morgue-like settings. "I could never go back to the old design," says Henrik Nielsen, president of Bernafon-Maico Inc., an Eden Prairie, Minn., hearing aid manufacturer. Nielsen's desk sits amid others in an open design that features only one enclosed private office. "I spent 15 years officing the old way and you end up being isolated from people."

Richard Rittelmann, a principal in a Pittsburgh architectural firm and active with the American Institute of Architecture, predicts these alternative office schemes, or modifications of them, are here to stay. Unlike office designs of even 10 years ago, Rittelmann says, today's strategies often have been better researched and employ common sense and logic, reflecting how people work and what companies want to accomplish. …