# MaRs Innovation District of Toronto

To design the new office and research space in the MaRs Innovation District of Toronto, Autodesk used generative design processes.

Starting with high-level goals and constraints, the design team used the power of computation to generate, evaluate and evolve thousands of design alternatives. The result was a high-performing and novel work environment that would not have been possible without this approach.

## Generate

![](https://1947225869-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-legacy-files/o/assets%2F-LZMLRvaju5sqPs7pYTX%2F-M4QXqb37UoeRwRlMTBH%2F-LrPm4bGKpddbbAJKeoO%2Fmars1.png?generation=1586378865675808\&alt=media)

> *Above: Design goals - Mars Innovation District - The Living*

The designers created a geometric system that meant the computer could explore multiple configurations of work neighborhoods, amenity spaces and circulation zones. This work represents the *`define`* step of the *`generate`* phase.

Using this algorithm, the computer varied the parameters to produce thousands of design options.

## Evaluate

![](https://1947225869-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-legacy-files/o/assets%2F-LZMLRvaju5sqPs7pYTX%2F-LrPm1e4RtGAmBvnbyWu%2F-LrPm4bINItTCQGp7WQ5%2Fmars2.jpg?generation=1571333627814842\&alt=media)

> *Above: Design option evaluated and selected- Mars Innovation District - The Living*

For this stage, information was collected from employees and managers about work styles and location preferences. Based on this data, six primary and measurable goals were defined:

* work style preference
* adjacency preference
* low distraction
* interconnectivity
* daylight
* views to the outside

The designers then created an algorithm to measure how any given floor plan could be measured against each of the goals above. Known as *`evaluators`*, these algorithms represent the *`analyse`* and *`rank`* stages of the generative process.

After the algorithms were formulated, the computer used them to evaluate each of the designs generated in the previous stage against the defined goals.

## Explore

![](https://1947225869-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-legacy-files/o/assets%2F-LZMLRvaju5sqPs7pYTX%2F-LrPm1e4RtGAmBvnbyWu%2F-LrPm4bPUoBZTRr0NSwr%2Fmars3.gif?generation=1571333632998353\&alt=media)

> *Above: Design Options - Mars Innovation District - The Living*

After the designs were evaluated, the designers looked at the *`solution space`* to explore the generated designs together with their evaluation results.

Taking into account each defined goal, they identified the design that best achieved the goals overall.