Re: deploying patch cords

Next, a reexamination as to whether 8P8Cs are the "right" connectors
(just because data centers use them doesn't make them suitable for
use in other applications!).   The telephone "plugboard" would be
nice (no orientation problems) but may be an issue electrically.

 It looks as though a vertical panel with two rows in the same numerical
order, with the 'outs' above their corresponding 'ins' and joined by
very short interconnecting links in the 'normal' configuration would be
the best arrangement.

If by "rows" you mean "columns", I think that is right.
Arrange the connectors to be adjacent with indicators "outboard".
This would make it easy for sighted/unsighted folks to get a quick
assessment of the state of everything:
O [] [] O O [] [] O O [] [] O
O [] [] O O [] [] O O [] [] O
O [] [] O O [] [] O O [] [] O
O [] [] O O [] [] O O [] [] O
O [] [] O O [] [] O O [] [] O
where:
    [] connection point
    O  indicator

 Below that could be a horizontal projecting shelf
with much longer leads  tensioned with weights so that they could be
pulled up and used to make non-standard interconnections.  When released
they would retract neatly out of the way.

I'm assuming any connection of that sort would be infrequent and
temporary.  So, a single (?) overly long patch cord could do the
trick.
As it (and it alone) would skew across the panel, it should be easy
to identify as an exception.  And, follow to each end.

That was the system used in telephone manual switchboards and it worked
very well, with the interconnections being easy to trace and no tangles
of loose leads.
 If you could justify the design and special manufacturing costs, you
could go one stage further and make it so that an ''out' and 'in' pair
of sockets on one 'channel' were automatically connected to each other
in the absence of a plug.  That would do away with the short
interconnectors altogether.

That may be possible.  I had planned on making "singletons" that were
effectively edge-stackable as the total number (and configuration)
would vary from system to system.  "Standardizing" on some arbitrary
packaging (dimensions) would likely lead to complications at installation.
E.g., here, I would arrange things in columns of 36.  Shorter columns
(e.g., 24) would necessitate more columns (i.e., greater width)
while longer columns would make them span longer reaches so the points
at one end were less accessible than the other.

 This method was used by the BBC for their
apparatus racks, so that only the non-standard interconnections needed
external leads.
 If standard Post Office Gauge'B' plugs (316-type) and leads could carry
the signals without degradation, there have been millions of standard
ready-made jack strips with break-jacks already manufactured which will
now be lying around as surplus stock.  (Grab them before the government
tries to buy them all back when they realise manual telephone
switchboards are EMP-proof.)

They're (currently) Gbe drops.  So, there is some care needed in their
physical termination.  I suspect they will be replaced with CAT6 in
the not too distant future as Gbe is becoming "old hat".  That may
pose some problems if the connection points are located too closely together
(minimum bend radius)