Steven Paynter

Paynter is showing builders how data and technology can help transform cities and solve the nation’s biggest problems. As building transformation & adaptive reuse leader, principal, for global design firm Gensler, he led the development of a tool for rapid assessment of existing office building stock for ESG performance and conversion into housing. This technology has most notably been implemented in Calgary to create thousands of new housing units. This approach has now spread to other major… Show more

Paynter is showing builders how data and technology can help transform cities and solve the nation’s biggest problems. As building transformation & adaptive reuse leader, principal, for global design firm Gensler, he led the development of a tool for rapid assessment of existing office building stock for ESG performance and conversion into housing. This technology has most notably been implemented in Calgary to create thousands of new housing units. This approach has now spread to other major cities, including Toronto, New York and San Francisco Show less

What can be done about the glut of tired office buildings no one wants anymore? Gensler's Paynter has an answer. As leader of the office design giant's building transformation and adaptive reuse practice, Paynter created an algorithm that helps developers and landlords decide which offices can profitably be converted into residential space, cutting the time it takes to make such decisions from four or six months to hours. When it comes to commercial office buildings, Paynter, who's participated… Show more

What can be done about the glut of tired office buildings no one wants anymore? Gensler's Paynter has an answer. As leader of the office design giant's building transformation and adaptive reuse practice, Paynter created an algorithm that helps developers and landlords decide which offices can profitably be converted into residential space, cutting the time it takes to make such decisions from four or six months to hours. When it comes to commercial office buildings, Paynter, who's participated in White House roundtables on real estate, says his job is "how do I identify the losers and figure out what to do with them?" Show less

Paynter used to be the guy you went to at Gensler to talk about mass timber construction, a lower-carbon alternative to concrete and steel structures. But in the past two years, he’s gone in a completely different direction.

Paynter’s become the San Francisco-based international architecture firm’s foremost voice on office-to-multifamily residential conversions — a timely turn given the impact of the pandemic on the commercial-real-estate market.

The 39-year-old, whose roles… Show more

Paynter used to be the guy you went to at Gensler to talk about mass timber construction, a lower-carbon alternative to concrete and steel structures. But in the past two years, he’s gone in a completely different direction.

Paynter’s become the San Francisco-based international architecture firm’s foremost voice on office-to-multifamily residential conversions — a timely turn given the impact of the pandemic on the commercial-real-estate market.

The 39-year-old, whose roles include studio director of the Toronto office and design resilience leader, is implementing a scorecard that will help determine the viability of converting offices to residential buildings in urban centers throughout the world.

Under Paynter’s leadership, Gensler developed an algorithm that’s able to quickly assess which buildings are viable for conversion to multifamily residential homes, collapsing the survey process from months to hours.

The reasons he tackled this project are threefold: The first was to enhance the vibrancy of downtowns, many of which are struggling after the pandemic.

“If you get people back downtown, you can reduce crime, and you can reduce pollution caused by commuting,” Paynter said.

The second reason was “so we don’t start tearing these buildings down. That would have been a huge problem and millions of kilograms of carbon would be released by doing it,” he said.

Finally, he sees solutions that can help combat the housing-supply crunch that constrains most urban centers.

After running Gensler’s algorithm, Calgary released a $10 billion blueprint for revitalization that encourages incentives for developers to do conversions. According to Gensler’s estimates, repurposing buildings will increase the area’s population by 23%.

“It’ll have a huge impact on the viability of the city and the retail there and the people who live there,” Paynter said. Show less