Today, organizations must measure workplace performance critically, as most workplaces remain underutilized. However, there is more and more evidence that High-performing work environments are an opportunity to improve employee productivity, satisfaction, and effectiveness. As a global leader in workplace design, Gensler has built unparalleled expertise in evaluating post-occupancy performance.

We collect and analyze data on how spaces function, uncovering insights related to innovation and productivity, but only after occupancy. Our clients value focus, interaction, wellness, and collaboration in the workplace as essential factors that enhance productivity and engagement. While we currently assess these factors post-occupancy, having the ability to measure them during the design phase would provide valuable insights for designers. They have focused our data-informed approach to workplace design in measuring functional, programmatic & environmental performance.

As more research into space syntax and visual graph analysis becomes available, a new frontier has emerged. A new frontier has emerged where we can predict human experience in a space even before we construct it. Gensler’s Predictive Spatial Analytics for Workplace Design tool aligns directly with the firm’s vision to create a better world through the power of design, placing human experience at the center while advancing data-driven innovation. Developed by Design Technology (DT) team in partnership with Workplace Practice Leaders, the initiative supports Gensler’s global digital transformation strategy to merge human creativity with computational intelligence.

The tool enables design teams and clients to anticipate spatial performance before construction, providing actionable insights into visibility, navigation, collaboration, and acoustic quality. This predictive capability reinforces Gensler’s commitment to evidence-based design, sustainability, and operational excellence. From the earliest design stages, they have focused on enhancing productivity and well-being in every space.

Gensler’s Predictive Spatial Analytics platform, together with proprietary tools and gFloorz (an agile test-fit design tool), actively transforms how design teams plan, test, and refine workplace environments within an integrated digital ecosystem. The primary objective was to create a technology platform capable of scientifically predicting spatial experience. During design rather than relying on post-occupancy assessments.

The project sought to enable designers and clients to make evidence-based decisions early, improving design quality, reducing rework, and optimizing spatial outcomes for productivity and well-being. A core challenge was the lack of tools that could quantify human experience before construction. While Gensler had extensive post-occupancy data, there was a critical need to translate this knowledge into predictive, computational design intelligence. The team aimed to bridge this gap by integrating spatial simulation, behavioral modelling and data visualization into a seamless design workflow.

The tool introduces five experiential metrics, namely Openness, Serendipity, Intuitiveness (Random Walk), Intuitiveness (Shortest Path), and Soundscape. To quantify spatial visibility, social interaction potential, navigational clarity, and acoustic quality. Each metric is powered by advanced algorithms and visual graph analyses to simulate how people will move and interact within a space. These simulations provide real-time feedback that allows design teams to test and refine design options. Predictive Spatial Analytics for Workplace Design represents a groundbreaking advancement in the application of design intelligence. Enabling teams to predict and optimize human experience well before construction begins.

This tool fundamentally disrupts that model by enabling evidence-based prediction during design, integrating computational simulation and data science into everyday design practice. The tool’s architecture was built for scalability and accessibility. Ensuring that it can be deployed across diverse workplace typologies and geographic markets. Its short analysis window ensures that predictive insights can be incorporated within standard project timelines. Most importantly, the project demonstrates how technology can elevate the human purpose of design. By forecasting how people will experience a space. Gensler’s Predictive Spatial Analytics tool ensures that every design decision contributes to a more intuitive and sustainable workplace environment. It stands as a model of how human-centered computation can redefine the future of workplace design.

About Spokeperson: Vignesh is the Design Technology Director for Gensler’s Asia Pacific, Middle East and Greater China regions. He leverages his passion for people enablement, process development, and technology innovation to lead digital transformation. The firm’s practice that spans complex mixed-use, retail, hospitality, sports and workplace projects of various scales across the region. The core mission of the high-powered community he leads is to create an advanced and sophisticated experience. For our designers and clients through infinite computing possibilities in generative design, computational systems, design visualization, and software development.