AI for Architecture Firms

Architecture firms face a specific challenge with AI adoption: their core product is design judgment, and they rightly worry about AI undermining the creative process. The firms seeing the most success with AI are not using it for design — they are using it to eliminate the non-design tasks that consume most of their time.

Code compliance checking is the most impactful starting point. Architects spend hours verifying that their designs meet building codes, and this checking is largely mechanical — measuring corridors, counting fixtures, checking fire ratings. AI handles this checking in minutes, freeing architects to focus on the design intent behind the code requirements rather than the arithmetic of compliance.

Project research is the second major opportunity. When starting a new project of a type the firm has done before, architects typically rely on memory and personal files to recall what worked. AI-powered search across the firm's complete project archive surfaces relevant precedents from every past project — details, specifications, RFI resolutions, and even lessons learned from construction. This institutional knowledge makes every architect in the firm more effective, regardless of their years of experience.