Research Library
Research empowers our global professionals to answer the pressing questions facing our design teams and clients every day.
50 Items
The Carbon Impact of a Workday
The Gensler Research Institute partnered with the MIT Mobility Initiative to quantify workplace, residence, and commuting emissions across U.S. cities to better understand how organizations can cut emissions during the workday.
September 15, 2025
Sustainability and Lab Automation
Lab automation promises increased productivity and new scientific roles, but its current unsustainable energy demands and operational shifts necessitate re-evaluation for environmental impact, space planning, and workforce adaptation.
June 25, 2025
City Pulse 2025
Gensler surveyed 33,000 people across 65 cities to uncover what makes a city magnetic — how it attracts new residents and keeps them wanting to stay.
May 21, 2025
Global Workplace Survey 2025
Gensler’s Global Workplace Survey 2025 reveals the importance of in-person work and insights on how workplaces can be better designed to support all forms of work for individuals and teams.
April 23, 2025
Resilience by Design
Our Resilience by Design Report presents solutions for transforming the built environment to achieve a net zero carbon impact across our portfolio and the design industry.
April 21, 2025
UK Legal Workplace Survey 2025
We surveyed UK lawyers to understand how and where they work, and found that this varies greatly by role. This revealed opportunities to improve the legal workspace to foster greater visibility and collaboration.
April 09, 2025
U.S. Legal Workplace Survey 2025
We surveyed U.S. lawyers to understand how they are working across five work modes — and what spaces can support them to do their best work.
April 09, 2025
Evolving Immersive: The 2025 Immersive Entertainment & Culture Industry Report
Explore the most comprehensive evaluation of the state of Immersive Experience available today, published in partnership by Gensler and the Immersive Experience Institute.
March 07, 2025
Shared Futures: Corporate Real Estate Executives’ Strategies for 2025
This report combines various sources of data and findings to provide a forward-thinking perspective on CRE professionals’ expectations, priorities, and planned actions as the industry adapts to evolving workforce needs.
January 27, 2025
Climate Action Through Design
Our Climate Action Through Design Report presents solutions for transforming the built environment to achieve a net zero carbon impact across our portfolio and the broader design industry.
January 01, 2025
Cultivating Equity in Partners and Practice
Equitable development requires strong community partnerships, and a long-term commitment to place-based work. By focusing on relationship building, active participation, and continuous learning, we can create projects that prioritize equity and improve the lives of community members.
December 16, 2024
U.S. Consumer Experience Report 2024
We integrated the perspectives of over 2,000 U.S.-based consumers with the latest thinking from our Design Leaders to gain fresh insights on what makes a great consumer experience worth it.
December 16, 2024
REACH for Transit: Improving Rider Experience and Customer Hospitality
To boost public transit ridership, cities must address safety concerns, reduce wait times, improve system navigation, and enhance the overall rider experience.
December 12, 2024
Vulnerable Communities & Climate Change: Building in Resilience
Resilience hubs, which offer community spaces, disaster preparedness, and self-sustainability, can improve insurability, lower insurance rates, and enhance the resilience of vulnerable cities.
December 12, 2024
Aligning Practice With Climate Justice
Our research explores how climate change disproportionately affects under-invested communities nationwide, with a current focus on Baltimore. We aim to inspire equitable design practices through a framework that prioritizes climate justice.
October 14, 2024
Global Climate Action Survey 2024
Gensler surveyed people around the world about their experiences with climate-related issues, such as extreme weather, and perceptions of whether their community is built to withstand the impacts of climate change.
September 18, 2024
Finance the Future: Strategies for Equitable Neighborhood Development
We explored how to effectively translate ESG commitments into financially viable equitable developments that address the housing crisis disproportionately affecting low-income and marginalized communities.
July 26, 2024
The Impact of Decentralized Finance on Next-Generation Workplace Experience
We explored how the development of financial technology and the emergence of decentralized finance have driven changes in the industry's workplace experience.
July 24, 2024
Shifting Carbon Neutral Into Drive: The Congo Basin Institute
We partnered with UCLA’s Institute of Environment and Sustainability to investigate design methods for carbon neutral buildings in the Congo Basin of Cameroon.
July 09, 2024
Redefining the Future of Urban Wellness in China
We created a framework and adaptable urban design toolkit to promote wellness in Chinese cities at the neighborhood level.
July 01, 2024
The Future of Gas Station Sites
We created an interactive tool to help architects and clients map underutilized gas station sites and aid decision-making to repurpose these stranded assets.
June 04, 2024
Global Workplace Survey 2024
Gensler’s workplace survey reveals what matters most to design high-performing workplaces and proposes a new precedent for measuring workplace performance.
May 15, 2024
The Return of the City
We examined how global perceptions have shifted from 2021 to 2023 across 15 global cities to understand the obstacles and opportunities facing cities today.
April 30, 2024
Designing for Place and Purpose in the Metaverse
We investigated the nature of the metaverse and how designers can employ it to create differentiated immersive experiences that delight users and solve challenges.
April 29, 2024
Fostering Lifelong Learning at Universities in Latin America
We conducted research at five universities in Latin America to understand how learning landscapes can support different modes of learning.
February 01, 2024
Equity Through Design: How To Improve Hybrid Meetings
We investigated how thoughtfully designed conference rooms and new behaviors can support parity for in-person and remote participants, enabling each person to participate in a meaningful way.
January 16, 2024
Education and the BIPOC Student Experience
We conducted research with a diverse group of New York City school students to understand how to create inclusive school buildings that feel welcoming and supportive for all.
January 10, 2024
The Carbon Footprint of Work
We quantified the true carbon cost of office work in multiple scenarios and cities to understand the best ways to reduce total associated carbon emissions.
December 04, 2023
Work, Life, and the Workplace: A 2023 Survey of Office Workers in Six U.S. Cities
We surveyed remote and office-based workers across six major U.S. cities to understand the unique factors that influence why employees adopt different work behaviors.
November 06, 2023
Designing Food-Resilient Cities
We researched how designers can reimagine food production to cities to better connect residents to their food and foster a food-resilient future.
August 22, 2023
Designing the 2030 Sustainable Office
We developed a framework that stakeholders can use to meet vital embodied and operational carbon targets and achieve sustainable offices by 2030.
August 10, 2023
U.S. Laboratory Research Scientist Survey 2023
As hybrid work, artificial intelligence, and cloud labs become commonplace in the life science industry, how can the design of laboratory settings evolve to meet needs and demands?
August 08, 2023
Sustainable Shade Structures
We researched how to offset the effects of extreme heat in at-risk communities through community co-creation of shading structures.
July 20, 2023
Designing for Lower Carbon Concrete in Data Center Constructions
The construction boom of data centers raises questions about their carbon footprint. We convened industry experts to understand how we can reduce the embodied carbon of data centers with lower carbon concrete.
July 19, 2023
Designing Individual and Team Personas
To create more empathetic and inclusive workplace design, we sought to create a process of identifying and developing individual and team personas.
May 18, 2023
Hospitality Experience Survey 2023
As travel ramps up, our survey explores the growing blend of business and leisure travel, new definitions of luxury hospitality experiences, and heightened guest expectations.
May 17, 2023
Beyond Senior Living: Designing Communities for Inclusion
We investigated how to create new business models and ecosystems that create enticing, safe, and alternative housing for an age diverse population.
April 26, 2023
Utilizing Waste Heat From Data Centers
We interviewed expert engineers and conducted case study reviews to understand how to reduce the steep environmental costs related to the energy consumption and carbon emissions from waste heat.
April 25, 2023
The Culture of Innovation Diagnostic
Gensler’s Culture Strategy team developed a diagnostic framework that uncovers the key factors to activate an intentional culture of innovation.
September 15, 2022
Sports Experience Survey 2022
With live sports at a turning point, it’s more important now than ever to understand what people value in a live sports experience, and how venues can adapt and deliver.
June 16, 2022
Residential Experience Index 2022
Our report uncovers findings from global residents to better understand the most important drivers of positive living experiences and highlights a need for fresh perspectives on residential design and development.
March 24, 2022
Education Engagement Index 2022
We surveyed students, educators, and staff members at U.S.-based colleges and universities to understand their experiences and expectations for the future of higher education.
February 27, 2022
Quantifying Embodied Carbon
We investigated the greatest drivers of embodied carbon in our projects and created actionable steps for implementing design and specification practices to reduce our embodied carbon outputs.
November 05, 2021
Outpatient Healthcare Experience Index
A study from the Gensler Research Institute explores how consumer expectations of the healthcare experience are evolving and the implications for the future of outpatient health.
September 21, 2021
US Hospitality Pulse Survey 2021
Americans are ready to travel once again. As pandemic-related travel restrictions ease in the United States, how can the hospitality industry meet evolving traveler expectations?
July 16, 2021
Enhancing the Client Experience
We investigated the top drivers in creating a positive client experience.
April 01, 2020
Urban Strategies for Coastal Resilience
Addressing sea level rise and major storms threats in vulnerable cities.
April 01, 2019
Developing a Design Approach for Sub-Saharan Africa
We researched how to integrate design with local development in Sub-Saharan Africa to improve the human experience.
April 01, 2018
Introducing the Gensler Experience Index
The Gensler Experience IndexSM is the result of a multi-year research effort to identify and quantify the factors of design that impact the human experience.
December 01, 2017
What is the Future of the Museum?
What is the future of the museum? Museums are evolving to accommodate active, individualistic, and tech‐driven new experiences. But they must do so without sacrificing their core missions and audiences.
December 03, 2015