Agent-Based Modeling (ABM) Simulation-Driven Intelligent Circulation Optimization for Small-Scale Composite Office Spaces

Abstract

Small-scale composite office spaces adopting Activity‑Based Working (ABW) often suffer from circulation conflicts caused by diverse user behaviors. This study adopts Agent‑Based Modeling (ABM) simulation to diagnose circulation problems and propose targeted spatial optimization schemes. Taking a 320 m² industry‑university‑research collaborative office named Qinggu as the case, we simulate the behavioral characteristics of enterprise employees, students and visitors, and identify three major circulation defects: shared node congestion, overlapping pedestrian routes and low wayfinding efficiency for visitors. Combined with architectural design strategies including layered circulation, shared node renovation and intelligent guidance design, we complete the overall space optimization. After renovation, the circulation intersection rate is reduced by 60%, hotspot congestion is greatly relieved, visitors‘ wayfinding time is shortened by 50.8%, and the overall space utilization rate rises by 44.6%. The ABM model is verified by on‑site data with a relative error below 12%. All optimization effects are substantial. This research provides practical design references for circulation improvement of similar small composite office spaces.