I love Middle Temple - it's about half a square mile of neatly manicured lawns and cloistered offices for some of London's highest paid Barristers. About 700 years ago they put a wall up around it and basically had their army face down the Kings army. It's been a legal enclave ever since, you walk through a tiny door in one of London's busiest streets and wham, lawns, quiet, collegiate atmosphere, rich lawyers in their own quietish rooms.
Basically it's how knowledge workers with power and money have chosen to work for half a millennia.
It's how all knowledge workers should work if they want to act at their peak.
Don't really need a study to show treating people like cattle is not the way to get the best results.
Edit: I know someone who works there will probably say it's not that good, and the grass is greener I am sure but I swear it's hands down better to be a junior counsel in any of the Temples than pretty much any other office environment in London, outside of Universities and Monarchy.
I'd definitely agree with this. I live very near Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and it's pretty much that exact thing.
It's a big chunk of land with large grassy areas, roads lined with towering trees, and a sky as huge as you can imagine. Here's a picture I took there about this time last year: http://i.imgur.com/IqlUadN.jpg
Anecdotally, the PNNL people I've worked with were, well not very good at their craft. PNNL is in the middle of nowhere, unless you're at the top of the game doing highly specialized work there that truly can only be done at PNNL (and not kidding yourself either), you're out of touch and not contributing.
I know I used to work at Holbourn and the contrast is amazing - fabulous Georgian buildings and parks you can see why baristers charge £1000 an hour.
I used to work in a building shared with one of the lesser law firms apparently they had complained to our CEO about the staff (of New Scientist) being scruffy and lowing the tone - being Journalists they retaliated by dressing even more casually :-)
> I know someone who works there will probably say it's not that good
I'm reliably informed that with laptops, remote working and a slightly more mercenary feel to the bar, a significant number of new graduates just don't place as much value in joining a chambers as they used to. Furthermore, a lot of the duties of clerks, once completely indispensible, can now be fairly easily absorbed by the barrister.
This feeling is understandable; I'm sure it can be difficult to justify the rent of a desk or room - all the nice feature you've mentioned are not things you can immediately put a £ amount to.
On the other end of the scale, London's finance and insurance industries started in the noisy, bustling and egalitarian coffee shops of Exchange Alley where knowledge workers who didn't want to sequester themselves from the outside world operated.
having a quiet place to retreat to and work does not preclude meeting in noisy bustling coffee shops and bars - simply walk into any coffee shop or bar near Middle Temple and throw a brick. you will hit a lawyer. (please do not actually do this)
No one sane chooses to work exclusively in noisy bustling environment - bar managers go to a quiet room to count the cash and add the wages up. Torturers routinely use loud environments to break a subject.
Quiet controlled calm is good for humans. Bustling and networking is also good for us.
One dare might interpret this as metaphorical to an immigration policy. Control who operates in your jurisdiction if you'd like to maintain conditions.
given that even London Barristers operate on a pretty hefty meritocracy (assuming can they afford it and speak nicely in English for the judges), immigration policy in that case is competing to attract the best.
Basically it's how knowledge workers with power and money have chosen to work for half a millennia.
It's how all knowledge workers should work if they want to act at their peak.
Don't really need a study to show treating people like cattle is not the way to get the best results.
Edit: I know someone who works there will probably say it's not that good, and the grass is greener I am sure but I swear it's hands down better to be a junior counsel in any of the Temples than pretty much any other office environment in London, outside of Universities and Monarchy.