AI for Building Design

AI for building design is most effective as an assistant that handles the analytical and compliance work, freeing designers to focus on the creative decisions that define architecture. The fear that AI will replace designers misses the point — the bottleneck in most firms is not design creativity but the production and compliance work that surrounds it.

During schematic design, AI runs preliminary code analysis on design options in real time. As an architect explores different floor plate configurations, AI calculates egress compliance, allowable building area, and construction type implications for each option. This instant feedback means code issues are caught during design exploration rather than weeks later during code review.

During design development and construction documents, AI shifts to quality control. It checks that the drawings are internally consistent — that the wall types on the plans match the wall type schedule, that the door hardware groups in the schedule are complete, that keynotes reference existing spec sections. These consistency checks catch the coordination errors that generate RFIs during construction and cost the project time and money.