The present disclosure relates to an arrangement and a method of performance-aware buffer zone placement for a high-density array of unit cells. A first feature density of the array is measured and maximum variation for a parameter within a unit cell is determined. A look-up table of silicon data is consulted to predict a buffer zone width and gradient value that achieves a variation that is less than the maximum variation for the unit cell. The look-up table contains a suite of silicon test cases of various array and buffer zone geometries, wherein variation of the parameter within a respective test structure is measured and cataloged for the various buffer zone geometries, and is also extrapolated from the suite of silicon test cases. A buffer zone is placed at the border of the array with a width that is less than or equal to the buffer zone width.