EU Horizon SONATA Project
About
Shared workplaces, especially open-plan and activity-based offices, often create persistent challenges for workers: noise and speech privacy problems, interruptions, limited control over the environment, and uneven access to spaces that support different tasks. These conditions can affect both physical wellbeing (e.g., fatigue, discomfort, prolonged sedentary work patterns) and mental wellbeing (e.g., stress, cognitive overload). At the same time, hybrid work and more diverse workforces mean that “one-size-fits-all” workplace conditions are increasingly difficult to justify.
SONATA (Situation-aware OrchestratioN of AdapTive Architecture) is a Horizon Europe research and innovation project that explores a different model: instead of workers constantly adapting to a fixed office, the office could physically adapt (responsibly and transparently) to changing situations and needs throughout the day using robotic and sensing technologies. The project aims to generate evidence-based recommendations on how multiple adaptive architectural technologies can be orchestrated (coordinated) in real, everyday shared workplaces, so that their collective impact can improve the health and wellbeing of co-located workers. SONATA’s consortium brings together 16 partner organisations from 10 countries, combining technology developers with researchers and practitioners across architecture, design, engineering, occupational and environmental expertise, and social sciences, as well as stakeholder network and sector representative partners, so that technical development is continuously tested against everyday workplace practices, organisational realities, and wellbeing and equity considerations.
What “adaptive” means in SONATA
In SONATA, “adaptive” does not mean a single smart feature. It means that certain aspects of the workplace can physically change to support different situations, while also continuously finetuning by learning from its impact to better support the evolving needs of the workers at hand. For example, part of the workspace might provide more support for focused work at one point in the day, then shift or transform to better support e.g., collaboration, calls, or recovery moments. This happens while multiple activities are unfolding in parallel in the same open-plan environment.
What “orchestrated” means
The background technology
A key part of SONATA is the situational decision logic that makes adaptation possible in a controlled way. The project develops and evaluates a digital representation of the workplace (a “digital twin”) together with algorithms that combine real-time signals (e.g., occupancy, activity patterns, indoor conditions) and user input to decide if, when, and how different adaptive elements should change.
The emphasis is on supporting wellbeing and usability while balancing competing needs in shared spaces, rather than simply automating everything.
What a SONATA-style office could look like
A SONATA-style office would still look like a normal shared open-plan workplace, but some elements can change during the day depending on what is happening in the office. For example:
- Windows can tint to reduce glare and improve visual comfort as daylight conditions change.
- Lighting can redirect and adjust to provide the right light where and when it is needed, rather than uniformly across the whole space.
- Height-adjustable acoustic ceiling panels can shift or tilt to reduce ambient noise and reverberation in areas where focused work or conversations are happening.
- Mobile robotic wall partitions can reconfigure parts of the space to create more privacy, reduce distraction, or support a specific activity.
- Desks can adjust in height to support healthier work patterns and reduce strain.
The goal is not constant movement or “smartness for its own sake,” but a workplace that can better match real, changing needs and patterns of work, while remaining transparent, fair, and socially acceptable for the people who share it.
What SONATA will produce
SONATA will translate research and real-world testing into practical, evidence-based outputs, including recommendations and guidelines for designing and implementing adaptive workplaces. The project also considers feasibility factors such as cost–benefit considerations, sustainability, and barriers to implementation and adoption. The project intended audiences include workplace professionals and stakeholders such as workers, occupational health experts, architects and workplace strategists, workplace innovation practitioners, technology providers, and organisations that develop standards and certifications.
SONATA
Website: https://sonata-horizon.eu
Email address: info@sonata-horizon.eu
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