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Spatial Analytics: New Ways of Understanding Architecture at WeWork R&D
Spatial Analytics: New Ways of Understanding Architecture at WeWork R&D
Years can pass between the design of a building and its eventual inhabitation. It takes so long to construct a building…
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Daniel Davis shared thisI didn't think there was more to say about mixed-use development. The logic has always seemed pretty straightforward: stick retail in the podium, add offices above, and both benefit. You still see that logic, even in articles published this year (not naming names!). Yuru Ding led this study for Hassell and spoke to developers across the Asia-Pacific. She found that the predictable logic of mixed-use developments was no longer working. There are a bunch of reasons for this. Some big ones: people are coming into offices less, reducing footfall; there's less demand for retail as people shop online; and financial backers have less appetite for large, inflexible projects. She found that developers were responding by creating more localised and adaptive schemes that were working from day one. The report looks at three ways this is happening across the Asia-Pacific: 1. Neighbourhood ecosystems 2. Civic-commercial hybrids 3. Ready-made pivots You can download the report here: https://lnkd.in/gawTREJ4 Thanks to Yuru Ding for leading this study. As well as Ingrid Bakker, Annabel Koeck, Darren Cartlidge, Chris Priftis, Verity Magdalino, Matty Kapeleri and many others at Hassell who all contributed.
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Daniel Davis shared thisA weird thing happened yesterday: we won an award for healthcare research! Our project, 'The Anatomy of Change', won the European Healthcare Design Conference Award for Research. As someone with no experience in healthcare, who really has no business being part of an award for it, it definitely feels strange. In truth, it was possible because there was a big team behind this paper at Hassell. Huge thanks to Dr Brett Pollard, who led the study. And to Leanne Guy, Yuru Ding, Nikki Weston, Verity Magdalino, and Matty Kapeleri who all contributed to the research and final report. Link to the original, award-winning (!), paper below. We’re also working on a follow-up piece, so stay tuned!
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Daniel Davis shared thisHong Kong has a housing crisis you probably haven't heard about. By 2039, a third of Hong Kong's population will be over 65. Worldwide, people are living longer and having fewer kids. As cities grapple with these changing demographics, they need more places designed for older people. But this is tricky in Hong Kong. It's dense, it's vertical, and new land is limited. In addition, senior living facilities tend to be run by the state, so there isn't much outside investment or choice in the market. We partnered with Colliers to better understand the design, policy, and financial considerations for building senior housing in Hong Kong. From this research, we found six regulatory changes needed to enable more senior housing in Hong Kong. Here's a few of them: 1. Introduce a mid-tier licensing pathway – to allow people to transition to extra-care 2. Establish a dedicated sub-use for senior housing – to encourage design innovation 3. Fast-track adaptive reuse projects – to sustainably create more supply The paper itself contains five prototypes of different developments that might be unlocked by these changes. I think it's a fascinating look at how policy and design interact, with a lot of lessons for markets outside Hong Kong. Curious what senior housing could actually look like? The whitepaper contains five design prototypes, case studies, and the policy shifts that could make them happen: https://lnkd.in/eQpJ37SA
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Daniel Davis shared thisAI isn't automating all of our work, just the bits we do at a desk. Recently, we surveyed 3000 office workers and asked them how they were using AI. They described thousands of different ways they were using AI, everything from helping with Excel formulas to preparing for unexpected speeches. We classified each task and found that most of the work being automated was things like writing, research, or admin work – things that typically require quiet and focus. We then asked people where they would have done these tasks if they hadn't automated them. Most people – the vast, vast majority – said that they would have done these tasks either at a desk in an office or at home (both places people go to work alone on focused tasks). This has profound implications for workplaces. Most offices are full of desks – they take up the most area on a typical floor plan. So what happens if you automate all of this work that would have otherwise happened at a desk? The deck below has a few recommendations. Download the full report: https://lnkd.in/eu-CJvh8
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Daniel Davis reposted thisDaniel Davis reposted thisMy team is hiring ✨ https://lnkd.in/db9Wkq74
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Daniel Davis shared thisMandates don’t work. As companies are push harder to get employees back into offices, we had a simple question: is any of this working? We’d already seen that the return to office had stalled. In our workplace futures survey last year, it was clear there was some sort of slow down. It was the first time since the pandemic that we’d seen any sort of stability in our numbers. But given all the stories about mandates and pushes to return to the office, was it really settled or was the tide starting to turn? We ran the workplace futures survey again this year. And, to cut a long story short, we’re still seeing a lot of stability despite the push to get people back into offices. As we dug into the data, we saw something surprising: at companies with stricter policies, people were only slightly more likely to work from the office, but they were much less happy about their company’s policy. In other words, people were finding ways around these policies, and they were pissed off that they had to. Mandates often end up causing frustration rather than boosting attendance. You might blame this on the policy, but when we dug deeper, we also saw the implementation was often at fault – why the policy is set, how it is communicated, and how an organization invests in it through incentives and disincentives. It’s a bit too much to get into here but the full report is up: https://lnkd.in/eu-CJvh8
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Daniel Davis shared thisArup Brisbane is the best workplace I've seen recently. Here's why: 98.4% of the original fit-out was either reused or diverted from the landfill. And the majority of the new fit-out was sourced locally, from Eastern Australia. They reused things you'd never expect: - Tables from a nearby food court were salvaged, resurfaced, and turned into custom furniture. - Oyster shells from Queensland restaurants became the render on the columns. - Granite was saved from a local demolition site and turned into flooring for the winter garden. Yet when you walk into the office, you'd never guess that it's composed of recycled and second-hand materials. It feels cohesive and purpose-built. It's only when someone takes you around that you see the little clues (like a metal panel that's slightly different on each floor because that's the quantity of scrap that was available). Of course, sustainability is for nothing if the office is empty. When I was there, it felt busy and vibrant. The planning was right: a clear purpose, activity-based working, a range of work settings, designed for flexibility and expansion, biophilia (1900 plants!), etc. I think we can be doing a lot better in terms of sustainability in the workplace. For me, this is my new benchmark. What would happen if every office did this? Full disclosure: I didn't do anything on this project except admire it. Congrats Scott Walker and team! Full write up in Architecture Australia: https://lnkd.in/er8n_PvD Photo: David Chatfield.
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Daniel Davis shared this"The future will be shaped by the decisions we make today". Michael Pecirno and our sustainability team have just released a new research study looking at future of regenerative design in the architecture industry. There are lots of gems in this paper, the one that probably gave me most pause is the graph showing net-zero goals vs projected floor area growth – they're not headed in the same direction (slide 3 below). There's a lot in here about what architecture and sustainability looks like, not just today but years in the future. Definitely worth a read. The full paper is available here: https://lnkd.in/eAnGMWq7
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Daniel Davis shared thisThe future of hospitality rhymes with workplace – personalization, wellness, sustainability. Interesting to see these parallels in Yuru Ding's latest research on innovation and adaptation in hospitality. Both sectors are navigating a deep shift in what people expect from space – not just comfort, but meaning. Hospitality is responding by creating immersive environments that combine storytelling, sustainability and wellness as default. And there are similar struggles. One stat that from Yuru's work that has stuck with me: "61% of hotel guests are willing to pay more for customised experiences, but only 23% recall receiving a highly personalised stay" I saw WeWork is using Ritz-Carlton to train employees. I think there's a lot more to learn from these two sectors. You can download the paper here: https://lnkd.in/e-qna7Mu
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Daniel Davis liked thisDaniel Davis liked thisWhat a week we've had across our studios! We hosted a panel event for the Living Cities Forum with the Naomi Milgrom Foundation in our Melbourne studio, in partnership with the Committee for Melbourne - followed by the launch of our annual Workplace Futures research, hosted in the impressive A&O Shearman Sydney office in Australia's first skyscraper - then The Fifth Estate's Big Debate on Carbon mandates in our Sydney studio - and an industry site tour of The Lands by Capella, in partnership with the Property Council of Australia and Essence PM. Collaboration is the key to our industry's success and events like these are where it comes to life, giving our clients a front-row seat to our work and the evidence and thinking behind it. It's this kind of collaboration that keeps the industry and the conversation moving on the future of our cities and workplaces. A big THANK YOU to everyone who joined us, hosted us, and partnered with us this week! Living Cities Forum, Committee for Melbourne, Property Council of Australia, Property Council NSW, The Fifth Estate, A&O Shearman, Essence Project Management, Pontiac Land Group, JLL, Capella Hotel Group, Hassell.
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Daniel Davis reacted on thisDaniel Davis reacted on thisI'm delighted to share that the 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗿𝘀 × Hassell 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺 has been shortlisted for 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿 at the RICS 𝗛𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗞𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲. This year's submission recognises our joint research paper: "𝙎𝙚𝙣𝙞𝙤𝙧 𝙇𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙣 𝘿𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙚 𝘾𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙨: 𝘽𝙪𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝘿𝙞𝙜𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝘾𝙝𝙤𝙞𝙘𝙚" The research set out to address a fundamental challenge facing Hong Kong and many global cities: how can senior living move beyond traditional care-home models and become a viable, inclusive and dignified component of urban development? By bringing together Colliers' real estate research, planning and market expertise with Hassell's design-led thinking, we sought to bridge policy, development feasibility and lived experience, translating a complex societal challenge into practical and implementable delivery pathways. This marks another important milestone in our RICS journey. 🏆 𝗥𝗜𝗖𝗦 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱 - 𝗪𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗿 🏅 𝗥𝗜𝗖𝗦 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰 - 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗹𝘆 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗱 🏅 𝗥𝗜𝗖𝗦 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲 - 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁 (𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗿𝘀 × 𝗛𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗹)) I am incredibly proud of what our team has achieved over the years and grateful to our partners at Hassell for their collaboration, commitment and shared belief that research should not stop at ideas, but help shape better outcomes for people and cities. Thank you to everyone who contributed to the project, participated in interviews, attended our panel discussion and challenged our thinking along the way. Looking forward to the awards ceremony in October. Darren Cartlidge Daniel Davis Yuru Ding Tony Lai Kenneth Wong #RICSAwards #ResearchTeamOfTheYear #SeniorLiving #Colliers #Hassell #UrbanPlanning #ThoughtLeadership #BuildingDignityAndChoice #BuiltEnvironment #HongKong
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Daniel Davis reacted on thisIt’s great to see the recognition of all the hard work from both Hassell and Colliers research teamsDaniel Davis reacted on thisI'm delighted to share that the 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗿𝘀 × Hassell 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺 has been shortlisted for 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿 at the RICS 𝗛𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗞𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲. This year's submission recognises our joint research paper: "𝙎𝙚𝙣𝙞𝙤𝙧 𝙇𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙣 𝘿𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙚 𝘾𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙨: 𝘽𝙪𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝘿𝙞𝙜𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝘾𝙝𝙤𝙞𝙘𝙚" The research set out to address a fundamental challenge facing Hong Kong and many global cities: how can senior living move beyond traditional care-home models and become a viable, inclusive and dignified component of urban development? By bringing together Colliers' real estate research, planning and market expertise with Hassell's design-led thinking, we sought to bridge policy, development feasibility and lived experience, translating a complex societal challenge into practical and implementable delivery pathways. This marks another important milestone in our RICS journey. 🏆 𝗥𝗜𝗖𝗦 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱 - 𝗪𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗿 🏅 𝗥𝗜𝗖𝗦 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰 - 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗹𝘆 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗱 🏅 𝗥𝗜𝗖𝗦 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲 - 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁 (𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗿𝘀 × 𝗛𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗹)) I am incredibly proud of what our team has achieved over the years and grateful to our partners at Hassell for their collaboration, commitment and shared belief that research should not stop at ideas, but help shape better outcomes for people and cities. Thank you to everyone who contributed to the project, participated in interviews, attended our panel discussion and challenged our thinking along the way. Looking forward to the awards ceremony in October. Darren Cartlidge Daniel Davis Yuru Ding Tony Lai Kenneth Wong #RICSAwards #ResearchTeamOfTheYear #SeniorLiving #Colliers #Hassell #UrbanPlanning #ThoughtLeadership #BuildingDignityAndChoice #BuiltEnvironment #HongKong
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Daniel Davis reacted on thisDaniel Davis reacted on this𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁���𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲. At Hassell ’s Future of Work briefing this morning, Daniel Davis offered an interesting framing: the workplace is dealing with a slow physical reset and a fast digital disruption. At the same time! 𝗜𝗡𝗗𝗜𝗩𝗜𝗗𝗨𝗔𝗟 𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗥 𝗚𝗥𝗢𝗨𝗣 This year’s survey mapped six workplace futures across two axes: tech-first to tech-retreat, individual to group. Every individual-work scenario outranked every group-work scenario. Tech-neutral, individual space came out on top. It held across demographics. 𝗠𝗬 𝗢𝗪𝗡 𝗜𝗧𝗖𝗛 The “tech-first” scenario as tested seemed to assume the interface is mostly screens. If more of that interaction moves off-screen — voice, ambient, gesture — will the preference shift? 𝗦𝗔𝗠𝗘 𝗪𝗘𝗘𝗞, 𝗦𝗔𝗠𝗘 𝗦𝗜𝗚𝗡𝗔𝗟 Libby Sander and Dominic Brown made a near-identical point at CoreNet last week: the ask wasn’t more collaboration tech, it was 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬. (See comments below for more) 𝗣𝗜𝗘𝗖𝗘𝗠𝗘𝗔𝗟 𝗔𝗜 🚇 And there’s something in how AI actually gets used: prompt, step away, come back once it’s processed. Daniel referenced a recent NYT piece — a small project started on the subway commute home, finished by the time they’d arrived. 𝗨𝗡𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗩𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗔𝗟 → 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗩𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗔𝗟 🌊 Right now the story is people using AI in unconventional spaces, unconventional ways. The question for me is how long before that tips over, and the unconventional becomes the conventional? Thanks to the Hassell team Daniel, Ingrid Bakker and Emily Moss for the event and for the A&O Shearman team for hosting (with the not too shabby view to boot!). Thanks also to Angela Sampson for the invite! Lovely also to see my old team mate Olesya Lipkovich , and to chat with some of the broader Hassell crew like Annie Crone and Vanessa Emmanuel.
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Daniel Davis reacted on thisDaniel Davis reacted on thisI write a newsletter about design and science. This week: You might be wrong about daylight. We've all been relying on a study from 25 years ago. Does more light actually improve outcomes?
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Daniel Davis liked thisDaniel Davis liked thisWe gave AI (claude) to a 250 #architecture studio here's what happened and what we've learnt. Curious to hear what other firms with a knack for #technnology and #fabrication are doing with Anthropic 👀 Stay tuned for Chapter 2.
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Daniel Davis liked thisDaniel Davis liked thisThanks to Hassell, Ingrid Bakker and Ashleigh White for hosting Too Connected to Concentrate: 2026 Workplace Futures Survey yesterday morning. Great insights into the trends and preferences shaping our workplaces. It was reassuring to see that while technology continues to evolve, one workplace priority remains unchanged: free food! The only question is... is there really such a thing as a free lunch? #WorkplaceStrategy #FutureOfWork #WorkplaceDesign
Experience & Education
Publications
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Vertically Integrated Research: An Unusual Business Model
Architectural Design
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Augmented space planning: Using procedural generation to automate desk layouts
International Journal of Architectural Computing
See publicationWe developed a suite of procedural algorithms for space planning in commercial offices. These algorithms were benchmarked against 13,000 actual offices designed by human architects. The algorithm performed as well as an architect on 77% of offices, and achieved a higher capacity in an additional 6%, all while following a set of space standards. If the algorithm used the space standards the same way as an architect (a more relaxed interpretation), the algorithm achieved a 97% match rate, which…
We developed a suite of procedural algorithms for space planning in commercial offices. These algorithms were benchmarked against 13,000 actual offices designed by human architects. The algorithm performed as well as an architect on 77% of offices, and achieved a higher capacity in an additional 6%, all while following a set of space standards. If the algorithm used the space standards the same way as an architect (a more relaxed interpretation), the algorithm achieved a 97% match rate, which means that the algorithm completed this design task as well as a designer and in a shorter time. The benchmarking of a layout algorithm against thousands of existing designs is a novel contribution of this article, and we argue that it might be a first step toward a more comprehensive method to automate parts of the office layout process.
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Evaluating Architectural Layouts with Neural Networks
SIMAUD 2017
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The Emergence of Material Systems through Anticipation of Material Properties
Designing the Dynamic / Melbourne Books
The Materials Systems team in the Designing the Dynamic workshop developed a novel method for sensing, simulating and representing material responses to external stimuli. The approach of embedding capacitive sensors into material models was developed to improve material performance-based design, and could be generalised to other design explorations. The method was applied during the workshop to verify the potential for sensing and visualising material properties as a contribution to design…
The Materials Systems team in the Designing the Dynamic workshop developed a novel method for sensing, simulating and representing material responses to external stimuli. The approach of embedding capacitive sensors into material models was developed to improve material performance-based design, and could be generalised to other design explorations. The method was applied during the workshop to verify the potential for sensing and visualising material properties as a contribution to design iteration and to establish a material awareness early on in the design process. The outcome is a method for anticipating material behaviour early in the design process using measured data.
Other authorsSee publication -
Sensing Material Systems - Novel Design Strategies
International Journal of Architectural Computing
The development of new building materials has decisively influenced the progression of architecture through the link between built form and available material systems.The new generation of engineered materials are no exception. However, to fully utilise these materials in the design process, there is a need for designers to understand how these new materials perform. In this paper we propose a method for sensing and representing the response of materials to external stimuli, at the early design…
The development of new building materials has decisively influenced the progression of architecture through the link between built form and available material systems.The new generation of engineered materials are no exception. However, to fully utilise these materials in the design process, there is a need for designers to understand how these new materials perform. In this paper we propose a method for sensing and representing the response of materials to external stimuli, at the early design stage, to help the designer establish a material awareness.We present a novel approach for embedding capacitive sensors into material models in order to improve material performance of designs.The method was applied and tested during two workshops, both discussed in this paper.The outcome is a method for anticipating engineered material behaviour.
Other authorsSee publication
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