Every time an article like this gets posted, a huge discussion ignites over the "better communication" of open office plans vs. the "less distraction, more focus" of offices. (A microcosm of this is "wear headphones if you need quiet" vs. "Why should I need headphones?")

Anecdotally, the open-office haters seem to outnumber the others.

Personally, (and this has been said before), I think an arrangement where you have private spaces, and a common central space, like a large/long table, would be best. The common space would be great for times when the team needs a lot of communication (i.e. bootstrapping a project) while the private spaces are good for more mundane tasks.

Allow teams to move between the two. Just my speculation, but the real culprit behind the productivity killing seems to be forcing people to work in an environment they don't like.