diff --git a/src/core/layout-strategies.ts b/src/core/layout-strategies.ts
index 42f7d89..ba63151 100644
--- a/src/core/layout-strategies.ts
+++ b/src/core/layout-strategies.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,10 @@
 import type {GeneratorParams, LayoutType, Point} from '../types';
-import {createPointCollector, getSafeRadius, validateLayoutParams} from './geometry-utils';
+import {
+  createPointCollector,
+  getSafeRadius,
+  isWithinCutoffZone,
+  validateLayoutParams,
+} from './geometry-utils';
 
 export interface LayoutStrategy {
   calculatePoints(params: GeneratorParams): Point[];
@@ -135,3 +140,13 @@ const strategies: Record<LayoutType, LayoutStrategy> = {
 };
 
 export const getLayoutStrategy = (layout: LayoutType) => strategies[layout];
+
+/**
+ * Full tube-point layout for the given params: the strategy points minus the
+ * impingement cut-off zones. Shared by the layout worker and its synchronous
+ * fallback so both paths produce identical results.
+ */
+export const computeLayoutPoints = (params: GeneratorParams): Point[] =>
+  getLayoutStrategy(params.tubeLayout)
+    .calculatePoints(params)
+    .filter((point) => !isWithinCutoffZone(point, params));
diff --git a/src/hooks/useGeneratorState.ts b/src/hooks/useGeneratorState.ts
index 9ffc00c..bc616a2 100644
--- a/src/hooks/useGeneratorState.ts
+++ b/src/hooks/useGeneratorState.ts
@@ -1,10 +1,11 @@
 import {useCallback, useDeferredValue, useEffect, useMemo, useRef, useState} from 'react';
 import type React from 'react';
 import {DEFAULT_PARAMS, MAX_TUBE_POINTS} from '../constants';
-import {getLayoutStrategy} from '../core/layout-strategies';
-import {estimateLayoutPointCount, isWithinCutoffZone} from '../core/geometry-utils';
+import {computeLayoutPoints} from '../core/layout-strategies';
+import {estimateLayoutPointCount} from '../core/geometry-utils';
 import type {GeneratorParams, ModifiedHole, Point} from '../types';
 import {generateStepInWorker, warmupCadWorker} from '../services/cad-worker-client';
+import {requestLayout} from '../services/layout-worker-client';
 import type {CadWorkerProgressMessage} from '../services/cad-worker-protocol';
 
 type WorkerStatus = 'idle' | 'warming' | 'ready' | 'error';
@@ -47,17 +48,29 @@ export default function useGeneratorState(): UseGeneratorStateResult {
     [deferredParams],
   );
 
-  // Guard against pathological inputs (huge diameter + tiny pitch) that would
-  // otherwise spin an O((D/pitch)^2) loop on the main thread and freeze the tab.
+  // Guard against pathological inputs (huge diameter + tiny pitch). The compute
+  // itself runs off-thread, but the canvas render and RBush index are still
+  // main-thread, so this cap protects those.
   const layoutTooLarge = estimatedPointCount > MAX_TUBE_POINTS;
 
-  const tubeCoords = useMemo<Point[]>(() => {
+  // Layout points are generated in a Web Worker so the UI thread stays free.
+  // Seed synchronously with the initial params to avoid a first-paint flash,
+  // then let the worker update on every (deferred) change, ignoring stale
+  // responses (latest request wins).
+  const [tubeCoords, setTubeCoords] = useState<Point[]>(() => computeLayoutPoints(DEFAULT_PARAMS));
+  const layoutRequestSeq = useRef(0);
+
+  useEffect(() => {
     if (layoutTooLarge) {
-      return [];
+      setTubeCoords([]);
+      return;
     }
-    return getLayoutStrategy(deferredParams.tubeLayout)
-      .calculatePoints(deferredParams)
-      .filter((point) => !isWithinCutoffZone(point, deferredParams));
+    const seq = ++layoutRequestSeq.current;
+    void requestLayout(deferredParams).then((points) => {
+      if (seq === layoutRequestSeq.current) {
+        setTubeCoords(points);
+      }
+    });
   }, [deferredParams, layoutTooLarge]);
 
   const warmupWorker = useCallback(async () => {
diff --git a/src/services/layout-worker-client.ts b/src/services/layout-worker-client.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..257d28e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/services/layout-worker-client.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+import type {GeneratorParams, Point} from '../types';
+import {computeLayoutPoints} from '../core/layout-strategies';
+import {decodePoints} from './layout-worker-protocol';
+import type {LayoutWorkerRequest, LayoutWorkerResult} from './layout-worker-protocol';
+
+const createRequestId = () => {
+  if (typeof crypto !== 'undefined' && 'randomUUID' in crypto) {
+    return crypto.randomUUID();
+  }
+  return `${Date.now().toString(16)}-${Math.random().toString(16).slice(2)}`;
+};
+
+type Pending = {
+  resolve: (points: Point[]) => void;
+  reject: (error: Error) => void;
+};
+
+let worker: Worker | null = null;
+const pending = new Map<string, Pending>();
+
+const destroyWorker = (error: Error) => {
+  const current = worker;
+  worker = null;
+  const handlers = Array.from(pending.values());
+  pending.clear();
+  handlers.forEach((handler) => handler.reject(error));
+  current?.terminate();
+};
+
+const getWorker = (): Worker | null => {
+  if (worker) return worker;
+  if (typeof Worker === 'undefined') return null;
+
+  const instance = new Worker(new URL('./layout-worker.ts', import.meta.url), {type: 'module'});
+  instance.addEventListener('message', (event: MessageEvent<LayoutWorkerResult>) => {
+    const message = event.data;
+    if (!message || typeof message !== 'object') return;
+    const handler = pending.get(message.requestId);
+    if (!handler) return;
+    pending.delete(message.requestId);
+    if (message.ok) {
+      handler.resolve(decodePoints(message.buffer));
+    } else {
+      handler.reject(new Error(message.message));
+    }
+  });
+  instance.addEventListener('error', (event) => {
+    const error = event.error instanceof Error ? event.error : new Error(event.message || 'Layout worker crashed.');
+    if (worker === instance) {
+      destroyWorker(error);
+    }
+  });
+
+  worker = instance;
+  return instance;
+};
+
+/**
+ * Compute a layout off the main thread. Falls back to a synchronous compute if
+ * a worker can't be created or the worker rejects, so callers always get points.
+ */
+export const requestLayout = (params: GeneratorParams): Promise<Point[]> => {
+  const w = getWorker();
+  if (!w) {
+    return Promise.resolve(computeLayoutPoints(params));
+  }
+
+  const requestId = createRequestId();
+  return new Promise<Point[]>((resolve, reject) => {
+    pending.set(requestId, {resolve, reject});
+    const request: LayoutWorkerRequest = {requestId, params};
+    w.postMessage(request);
+  }).catch(() => computeLayoutPoints(params));
+};
diff --git a/src/services/layout-worker-protocol.test.ts b/src/services/layout-worker-protocol.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c860ec7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/services/layout-worker-protocol.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+import {describe, expect, it} from 'vitest';
+import {decodePoints, encodePoints} from './layout-worker-protocol';
+import type {Point} from '../types';
+
+describe('layout point codec', () => {
+  it('round-trips points through the Float64 buffer', () => {
+    const points: Point[] = [
+      {x: 0, y: 0},
+      {x: 12.5, y: -3.25},
+      {x: -240.125, y: 199.5},
+    ];
+    expect(decodePoints(encodePoints(points))).toEqual(points);
+  });
+
+  it('handles an empty layout', () => {
+    const buffer = encodePoints([]);
+    expect(buffer.byteLength).toBe(0);
+    expect(decodePoints(buffer)).toEqual([]);
+  });
+
+  it('produces a buffer of two float64s per point', () => {
+    expect(encodePoints([{x: 1, y: 2}, {x: 3, y: 4}]).byteLength).toBe(2 * 2 * 8);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/services/layout-worker-protocol.ts b/src/services/layout-worker-protocol.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9183ce0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/services/layout-worker-protocol.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+import type {GeneratorParams, Point} from '../types';
+
+export type LayoutWorkerRequest = {
+  requestId: string;
+  params: GeneratorParams;
+};
+
+export type LayoutWorkerResult =
+  | {requestId: string; ok: true; buffer: ArrayBuffer}
+  | {requestId: string; ok: false; message: string};
+
+/** Pack points into an interleaved [x0,y0,x1,y1,...] Float64Array buffer. */
+export const encodePoints = (points: Point[]): ArrayBuffer => {
+  const array = new Float64Array(points.length * 2);
+  for (let i = 0; i < points.length; i++) {
+    array[i * 2] = points[i].x;
+    array[i * 2 + 1] = points[i].y;
+  }
+  return array.buffer;
+};
+
+/** Reverse of encodePoints. */
+export const decodePoints = (buffer: ArrayBuffer): Point[] => {
+  const array = new Float64Array(buffer);
+  const points: Point[] = new Array(array.length / 2);
+  for (let i = 0; i < points.length; i++) {
+    points[i] = {x: array[i * 2], y: array[i * 2 + 1]};
+  }
+  return points;
+};
diff --git a/src/services/layout-worker.ts b/src/services/layout-worker.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ba387dd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/services/layout-worker.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+/// <reference lib="webworker" />
+
+import {computeLayoutPoints} from '../core/layout-strategies';
+import {encodePoints} from './layout-worker-protocol';
+import type {LayoutWorkerRequest, LayoutWorkerResult} from './layout-worker-protocol';
+
+const ctx = self as unknown as DedicatedWorkerGlobalScope;
+
+ctx.onmessage = (event: MessageEvent<LayoutWorkerRequest>) => {
+  const request = event.data;
+  if (!request || typeof request !== 'object' || typeof request.requestId !== 'string') {
+    return;
+  }
+
+  try {
+    const points = computeLayoutPoints(request.params);
+    const buffer = encodePoints(points);
+    const message: LayoutWorkerResult = {requestId: request.requestId, ok: true, buffer};
+    ctx.postMessage(message, [buffer]);
+  } catch (error) {
+    const message: LayoutWorkerResult = {
+      requestId: request.requestId,
+      ok: false,
+      message: error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error),
+    };
+    ctx.postMessage(message);
+  }
+};