most likely what you saw at your work is a 27" IPS monitor with 2560x1440 resolution.
what native resolution do you intend to target? as much as possible you should aim for the smallest pixel pitch from a monitor, this is to maintain the sharpness of the picture.
a simple highest pixel pitch of monitor per size:
21.5" = 1920x1080
24" = 1920x1200
27" = 2560x1440
30" = 2560x1600
straying from this graph usually leads to less sharper picture.
also, going 1080p on a 27" is as bad as going 720p on a 32" tv, reason? you're nearer your monitor which makes you notice the blurriness even more.
1] if you plan on getting a TN monitor, skip this and proceed to option 2, if you're aiming for IPS though keep reading.
27" with 2560x1440 would be the ideal choice, but in terms of price it wouldn't be a good choice.
30" 2560x1600 would be the next thing and the price isn't that far away either.
edit: another pros of going 30" is you can throw your shitteh(no offense) 32" 720p tv.
good IPS monitors that i know are:
[$1,199.99]Dell UltraSharp U3011 30" Black 7ms IPS-Panel[$999.99]Dell UltraSharp U2711 IPS-Panel Black 27" 6ms WQHD2] with TN monitors you could save a "few" money, although you'll miss the e-peen of an IPS monitor, and effectively have a great sort of monitor for it's purpose.
[$250-600]1080p 27"[$700-1,200]1440p 27"note: 30" TN hardly exists, well at most they're not worth it.