The study by Jungsoo Kim and Richard de Dear of the University of Sydney faculty of architecture debunks previous claims that partitions and open-plan configurations promote communication and boost morale. It instead found workers in private offices were far more satisfied than those out in the bull pen.

The study used surveys of more than 42,000 United States office workers and concluded that the main problem with open-plan designs was "sound privacy".

But the findings are not being taken seriously by commercial real estate agents - or, it would seem, the architects of the nation's new spy-den.

ASIO's Ben Chifley Building mainly operates as an open-plan workplace despite the top-secret nature of the department's work. Only about 13 per cent of work points are in single offices.

An ASIO spokesman said senior executive service officers each have an office. ''The remaining offices are allocated to roles that require … privacy,'' he said.

The Canberra offices of global real estate services firm Jones Lang LaSalle represent cutting-edge office design.

There is no assigned seating; even managers are expected to clean their workspace at the end of each day and put personal items into individual lockers.

The company spent $2.3 million fitting out the 14,000 square metre space before moving in December 2011.

Head of government business at JLL, Andrew McColl, said staff satisfaction with the work environment improved from 55 per cent to 90 per cent.

''I find it really hard to believe that open plan is more stressful,'' he said.

''Initially there was some resistance but we had a nine-month process where we worked with staff before we made the move,'' he said.

There are ''hush'' offices with sliding doors for when staff need privacy, couches, a kitchen and a staff cafeteria.

Mr McColl said another benefit was space saving. The office has 107 work stations: ''We have a similar number of staff but could cater for 150 staff when [taking into] account sick leave, travel and annual leave.''