Really? I felt the seating arrangements was quite normal, I've seen and experienced many similar arrangements.
Albert still has a prominent seat, the two rows of tables on the left and right are much longer, I think it's a nice,
democratic arrangement
I guess we do it differently in my work place. One person sits at the top of the table, another sits at the bottom and the rest sit on the right and left hand sides.
From a comfort point of view it just all looked very cramped to me.