Public visible indicators of build status:
* AmbientOrb
* ColorUsbStatusLamp
* BuildStatusLavaLamp
* Traffic Lights:  The UrbanSim project (http://www.urbansim.org/) used old traffic lights.  ...purchased from http://www.trafficlights.com/scottsig.htm
* Large LED message board?  e.g. http://tinyurl.com/585t5
* TheDevicePatentedProcessIndicatingApparatus

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Articles:
* http://www.sharpesrus.com/2004/08/monitoring-build-status-in-unique-ways.html
* "eXtreme Feedback for Software Development" -- http://www.developertesting.com/archives/month200404/20040401-eXtremeFeedbackForSoftwareDevelopment.html

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Uh, wouldn't a web page suffice?  Or does that involve insufficient gadgetry to merit consideration?  (I remember when putting a Coke machine on the web was considered a cool hack...)

''The problem with a web page is that you, the user have to poll it.  The good thing about these approaches is that they are public and passive:  They '''transmit''' the build status to everyone with eyes (and maybe ears).  You can't miss it; anyone who wonders through the office, or wakes up for a minute, can plainly see the build status.  You don't have to open a browser window and check a web page somewhere.''

Have a web page so anyone, anywhere in the building can view it. Have a LavaLamp type display with it, then set up a projector and have it permanently shown on a wall. That way it's both available everywhere and unmissable in the software area.

''Where I come from, lava lamps cost less than LCD projectors.''

Or, you could replace the boring flourescent track-lighting with disco lights or stage lights; flood the whole work area in green when the build works; red when it breaks.  Or, for that industrial look--just get some of the red/yellow/green indicators used in factory floors to indicate problems with the production line; those are cheap and meant to be driven by a controller of some sort.
(Or hang a traffic light from the wall).

''Don't forget about wall mounted LCDs. An example from the _eXtreme Feedback for Software Development_ article:''
  http://www.developertesting.com/images/entryimages/mdt-extreme-feedback_04_0001.jpg