diff --git a/src/Microsoft.SqlTools.ServiceLayer/ObjectExplorer/ObjectExplorerService.cs b/src/Microsoft.SqlTools.ServiceLayer/ObjectExplorer/ObjectExplorerService.cs
index a99a1989..72cee108 100644
--- a/src/Microsoft.SqlTools.ServiceLayer/ObjectExplorer/ObjectExplorerService.cs
+++ b/src/Microsoft.SqlTools.ServiceLayer/ObjectExplorer/ObjectExplorerService.cs
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ using System.Diagnostics;
 using System.Linq;
 using System.Threading;
 using System.Threading.Tasks;
+using Microsoft.Data.Tools.Sql.DesignServices.TableDesigner;
 using Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.Common;
 using Microsoft.SqlTools.Extensibility;
 using Microsoft.SqlTools.Hosting;
@@ -23,6 +24,7 @@ using Microsoft.SqlTools.ServiceLayer.ObjectExplorer.Contracts;
 using Microsoft.SqlTools.ServiceLayer.ObjectExplorer.Nodes;
 using Microsoft.SqlTools.ServiceLayer.ObjectExplorer.SmoModel;
 using Microsoft.SqlTools.ServiceLayer.SqlContext;
+using Microsoft.SqlTools.ServiceLayer.TableDesigner;
 using Microsoft.SqlTools.ServiceLayer.Utility;
 using Microsoft.SqlTools.ServiceLayer.Workspace;
 using Microsoft.SqlTools.Utility;
@@ -381,6 +383,27 @@ namespace Microsoft.SqlTools.ServiceLayer.ObjectExplorer
             TreeNode node = session.Root.FindNodeByPath(nodePath);
             ExpandResponse response = null;
 
+            // Performance Optimization for table designer to load the database model earlier based on user configuration.
+            if (node.NodeTypeId == NodeTypes.Database && TableDesignerService.Instance.Settings.PreloadDatabaseModel)
+            {
+                // The operation below are not blocking, but just in case, wrapping it with a task run to make sure it has no impact on the node expansion time.
+                var _ = Task.Run(() =>
+                {
+                    try
+                    {
+                        var builder = ConnectionService.CreateConnectionStringBuilder(session.ConnectionInfo.ConnectionDetails);
+                        builder.InitialCatalog = node.NodeValue;
+                        builder.ApplicationName = TableDesignerService.TableDesignerApplicationName;
+                        var azureToken = session.ConnectionInfo.ConnectionDetails.AzureAccountToken;
+                        TableDesignerCacheManager.StartDatabaseModelInitialization(builder.ToString(), azureToken);
+                    }
+                    catch (Exception ex)
+                    {
+                        Logger.Write(TraceEventType.Warning, $"Failed to start database initialization for table designer: {ex.Message}");
+                    }
+                });
+            }
+
             // This node was likely returned from a different node provider. Ignore expansion and return an empty array
             // since we don't need to add any nodes under this section of the tree.
             if (node == null)
diff --git a/src/Microsoft.SqlTools.ServiceLayer/SqlContext/SqlToolsSettingsValues.cs b/src/Microsoft.SqlTools.ServiceLayer/SqlContext/SqlToolsSettingsValues.cs
index ce92841f..d505b92f 100644
--- a/src/Microsoft.SqlTools.ServiceLayer/SqlContext/SqlToolsSettingsValues.cs
+++ b/src/Microsoft.SqlTools.ServiceLayer/SqlContext/SqlToolsSettingsValues.cs
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ namespace Microsoft.SqlTools.ServiceLayer.SqlContext
                 IntelliSense = new IntelliSenseSettings();
                 QueryExecutionSettings = new QueryExecutionSettings();
                 Format = new FormatterSettings();
+                TableDesigner = new TableDesignerSettings();
             }
         }
 
@@ -48,5 +49,11 @@ namespace Microsoft.SqlTools.ServiceLayer.SqlContext
         /// </summary>
         [JsonProperty("objectExplorer")]
         public ObjectExplorerSettings ObjectExplorer { get; set; }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Gets or sets the table designer settings
+        /// </summary>
+        [JsonProperty("tableDesigner")]
+        public TableDesignerSettings TableDesigner { get; set; }
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/Microsoft.SqlTools.ServiceLayer/SqlContext/TableDesignerSettings.cs b/src/Microsoft.SqlTools.ServiceLayer/SqlContext/TableDesignerSettings.cs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b252843f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Microsoft.SqlTools.ServiceLayer/SqlContext/TableDesignerSettings.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+//
+// Copyright (c) Microsoft. All rights reserved.
+// Licensed under the MIT license. See LICENSE file in the project root for full license information.
+//
+
+namespace Microsoft.SqlTools.ServiceLayer.SqlContext
+{
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Contract for receiving table designer settings as part of workspace settings
+    /// </summary>
+    public class TableDesignerSettings
+    {
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Whether the database model should be preloaded to make the initial launch quicker.
+        /// </summary>
+        public bool PreloadDatabaseModel { get; set; } = false;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/Microsoft.SqlTools.ServiceLayer/TableDesigner/TableDesignerService.cs b/src/Microsoft.SqlTools.ServiceLayer/TableDesigner/TableDesignerService.cs
index 8ee9b1ef..77640139 100644
--- a/src/Microsoft.SqlTools.ServiceLayer/TableDesigner/TableDesignerService.cs
+++ b/src/Microsoft.SqlTools.ServiceLayer/TableDesigner/TableDesignerService.cs
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ using Microsoft.Data.Tools.Sql.DesignServices;
 using Microsoft.SqlTools.ServiceLayer.TableDesigner.Contracts;
 using Dac = Microsoft.Data.Tools.Sql.DesignServices.TableDesigner;
 using STSHost = Microsoft.SqlTools.ServiceLayer.Hosting.ServiceHost;
+using Microsoft.SqlTools.ServiceLayer.SqlContext;
 
 namespace Microsoft.SqlTools.ServiceLayer.TableDesigner
 {
@@ -32,6 +33,8 @@ namespace Microsoft.SqlTools.ServiceLayer.TableDesigner
         {
         }
 
+        public TableDesignerSettings Settings { get; private set; } = new TableDesignerSettings();
+
         /// <summary>
         /// Gets the singleton instance object
         /// </summary>
@@ -61,7 +64,16 @@ namespace Microsoft.SqlTools.ServiceLayer.TableDesigner
             this.ServiceHost.SetRequestHandler(GenerateScriptRequest.Type, HandleGenerateScriptRequest);
             this.ServiceHost.SetRequestHandler(GeneratePreviewReportRequest.Type, HandleGeneratePreviewReportRequest);
             this.ServiceHost.SetRequestHandler(DisposeTableDesignerRequest.Type, HandleDisposeTableDesignerRequest);
+            Workspace.WorkspaceService<SqlToolsSettings>.Instance.RegisterConfigChangeCallback(UpdateSettings);
+
         }
+
+        internal Task UpdateSettings(SqlToolsSettings newSettings, SqlToolsSettings oldSettings, EventContext eventContext)
+        {
+            Settings.PreloadDatabaseModel = newSettings.MssqlTools.TableDesigner.PreloadDatabaseModel;
+            return Task.FromResult(0);
+        }
+
         private Task HandleRequest<T>(RequestContext<T> requestContext, Func<Task> action)
         {
             // The request handling will take some time to return, we need to use a separate task to run the request handler so that it won't block the main thread.