One of the main errors in the machining accuracy of machine tools is the displacement through thermal induced deformation. Modern design and construction methods aim to optimize the heat flow in the machine to achieve minimum displacement. To enable a further improvement it is essential to know the displacement state of the complete machine structure. However, most measurement methods that are used to capture the influence of a thermal load only measure the displacement of the TCP or individual axes. This paper presents a methodology to capture the complex spatial displacement condition of a state of the art machine tool in one measuring cycle using a multichannel laser interferometer. It describes the development of the measurement model as well as the measurement setup in the workspace of the machine. With measurements according to the presented procedure, it is possible to uncover weak points in the structure of a machine tool and to derive warm-up and cooling strategies.