On 2014-11-24, Chris J Dixon wrote:

Yes indeed. The area in question was walled off from the rest of
us by shiny partitions, which made it pretty acoustically lively.

They gave it curved corners, and a partially barriered entry, all
in Perspex. The image this design evoked was such that it was
soon nicknamed "****oir"

http://static.panoramio.com/photos/large/32031816.jpg

That looks rather more sophisticated than the traditional French one.

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vespasienne

(Last time I was in Paris, I tracked down & used the last one
standing, as shown in the photo there. It was in pretty bad shape & I
had to be careful where I stood.)

The sound leakage to us on neighbouring desks was pretty
irritating, and we got to know key parts of the usual
presentation by heart.

Ha ha, you said "leakage".