Autodesk’s Toronto offices are an interesting example of generative design in practice. Autodesk unveiled its new office building in 2017. The office spans three floors with a total size of 60,000 square feet. I attended an Autodesk education program in 2018 and was given a tour of the remarkable facility. I saw firsthand the unusual contours of the space that resulted from the idea of getting employee feedback in the design of the office building.

The designers consulted with 250 employees about office preferences. These included things like the distance between two tables, outside views, daylight, and more. Autodesk took the feedback and put it through a design tool called Project Discovery. The result was a mix of different types of work environments throughout the building.