They must have thought that you had some kind of superpowers that they had to contain hence putting you in the faraday cage!
I once worked in an office that had no windows and was above the cafeteria where they served a lot of chips. Everyday the place would smell of vinegar and fried potato and occasionally fried fish. It was hell on earth as it kinda clung to you when you left.
I am still mostly working from home thankfully. I don't think they will ever convince us all to go back in. They are building the new office as a smaller thing so obviously they think that is the way of the future too! hurrah for home working!
My director's office is under the exhaust fan (on the roof) used by the cafeteria below him. So he gets the noise from people in the cafeteria, and the constant hum of the exhaust fan. At 5PM, the exhaust fan turns off and the sound levels in his office drop by about 15dB. :-)
I don't think I could handle the smell of Fish & Chips every day ... it'd either make me really hungry or feeling ill. ;-).
My wife is currently working with an HR department on developing a proper hybrid model work environment. i.e. People share desks, but can be assigned desks if they are willing to work 3 days, then 2 days for alternating weeks. So they are assigned desks/spaces, but only on days that days they are scheduled to be in the office. Some "swing spaces" are being made available in case you need to come in on your off day. The company will provide headsets, properly equipped meeting/board rooms etc, etc.
The end goal is the same as you mention above. The company will be able to reduce real estate if they can manage juggling employees - and keeping them happy.
I couldnt take working under an aircon like that. I know you get used to the noise but I think it would drive you slowly mad.
That coupled with smells would just be the end of everything.
That sounds like the way to do it. Our new office is meant to enable something similar but perhaps with less focus on making the employees happy :OD
One other aspect that she is trying to look at is parking. Since the office is downtown and parking is $200/month, they are approaching the parking authority to see if they can arrange 2for1 parking passes. i.e. the two employees who share a desk would each get a parking pass (different color). The parking lot would know the colour of the day etc etc. But then the logistics start to get mangled since you are now involving a third party. etc etc.
It's going to be a new world.
My daughter recently quit her job and took another because her "previous" employer wanted her in the office twice a week, her "new" employer is 100% work from home. The new employer's only requirement is that you have to be on Canadian soil for at least 6 months (plus a day) - so that you comply with the Canadian tax law.
Think about that. Being in your 20's again and being told you could effectively work from anywhere you wanted for close to half the year ... as long as you have internet. I don't know if I would have had the control needed for that much freedom.
I definitely wouldnt have had the control back then. I would have been a sodden mess staying up all night and winging it during the day.
Parking is a thing. My place are building the new office with zero parking. Fortunately there is a biggish car park nearby which is cheap as chips, £5 for all day parking which is a quarter of your average price.
I see a lot of people now working in places and for places they never could have before simply because it is remote. I like this new world!