The drawing is the visible part of architecture. Around it sits a wall of writing: the zoning summary, the code study, the design narrative for the review board, the spec sections, the RFI responses during construction, the meeting minutes, the fee proposal. AI is a strong first-draft writer for all of it and a useful research assistant, as long as you assume it will be wrong some of the time.
Two patterns pay off fastest. First, document questioning: load the adopted code, the zoning ordinance, your firm's standards and the client's program into a tool like NotebookLM or Claude and ask questions that come back with citations to the page. Second, drafting from your own notes: a site-visit voice memo becomes a field report, a red-pen markup becomes an RFI response, one project paragraph becomes three narratives for three audiences.
What does not move: you are the licensed professional. Every code interpretation, every egress calculation, every dimension on a sealed sheet is yours, and a licensing board does not accept 'the AI said so'. Use it to find, draft and question; you decide and you sign.
Quick wins this week
- Paste your program notes from a client meeting and ask for a space program table: rooms, target areas, adjacencies and the questions you still need answered.
- Load the adopted building code for your jurisdiction into NotebookLM and ask for every section that touches your occupancy type, with citations you then read yourself.
- Describe a project in one paragraph and ask for a design narrative for the planning board, a version for the client, and a 60-word version for your website.
- Paste a contractor's RFI and your marked-up answer and ask for a clean, numbered response that references the sheet and detail numbers.
- Record a site-visit voice memo, transcribe it, and ask for a field observation report in your firm's format with items sorted by trade.
What AI can do for architects, task by task
Code and zoning research (first pass only)
Upload the adopted code edition and local amendments, state your occupancy, construction type, height and area, and ask for the applicable sections with citations. Read every cited section in the adopted text; a model's memory of the IBC is a blend of editions, and amendments are usually missing. The code analysis on the sheet is yours, verified line by line.
Programming and early design studies
Paste client interview notes and ask for a space program with target areas, adjacencies, special requirements and open questions, then ask for stacking and circulation strategies in words to test in your own sketches. Tools such as Autodesk Forma handle early sun, wind and massing studies; a chat model cannot design the building, but it makes the pre-design conversation faster and better documented.
Design narratives, proposals and presentations
Give it the project description and the audience: review boards want to hear how the design meets their guidelines, clients want program, budget and schedule. For fee proposals, give it scope, phases, deliverables and exclusions, then price it yourself and keep the legal terms on your standard or AIA documents. Verify every guideline reference against the board's actual document and strip any claim you did not supply.
Specifications and product research
Give it your master spec section and the products you selected, and ask for the Part 2 and Part 3 edits plus a list of conflicts between the spec and your drawing notes. Use manufacturers' current data sheets for product facts, never the model's memory. Specifications are contract documents; your spec writer or project architect reviews every line.
Construction administration: RFIs, submittals and field reports
Paste the RFI and your markup for a numbered response referencing sheets and details; paste the spec section and the submittal for a table of deviations; transcribe a site-visit memo for a field report sorted by trade. Check every sheet reference and route anything touching structure, life safety or a consultant's scope to them before issue. Your response is part of the contract record.
Concept imagery and mood boards
Use Midjourney or Adobe Firefly for early ideation: material palettes, atmosphere, massing options, a mood board for the first client conversation. Label every image as AI concept imagery, never as a rendering of the design, and agree with the client how the images will be used. Adobe says Firefly is trained on licensed and public-domain content, which some firms prefer for anything client-facing.
Prompts for architects
Replace the bracketed placeholders, paste into any chat assistant, and iterate on the result.
Code applicability first pass
You are a code consultant's research assistant. I am uploading the adopted building code for [JURISDICTION] ([CODE AND EDITION, E.G. 2021 IBC WITH STATE AMENDMENTS]). Project: [OCCUPANCY CLASSIFICATION, CONSTRUCTION TYPE, NUMBER OF STORIES, HEIGHT, GROSS AREA PER FLOOR, SPRINKLERED YES OR NO, MIXED OCCUPANCIES]. List every section that applies to this project for allowable height and area, occupancy separations, means of egress (occupant load, exit count, travel distance, exit width), fire-resistance ratings, accessibility, and plumbing fixture counts. For each, quote the section number and the exact text you relied on, and state the number or requirement it produces for my inputs. Mark any item where a local amendment could change the answer as CHECK AMENDMENTS. Do not use any code text that is not in the uploaded document.
Tip: Read every cited section yourself; the code analysis on the sheet is yours, and this list only tells you where to look.
Space program from client notes
You are an architectural programmer. Client interview notes: [PASTE NOTES]. Project type: [E.G. 40,000 SF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ADDITION, 12-UNIT MULTIFAMILY, DENTAL CLINIC]. Site constraints: [DESCRIBE]. Budget signal: [DESCRIBE OR WRITE UNKNOWN]. Produce a space program table with room name, quantity, target net area, occupants, required adjacencies, special requirements (acoustics, daylight, security, plumbing, structure) and the line in the notes that supports each. Apply a grossing factor of [PERCENT] and show the gross total. Then list the questions I need to ask the client before schematic design, grouped by urgency. Flag any room the notes imply but never state.
Tip: Send the questions to the client within a day of the interview while the conversation is fresh for them too.
Design narrative for three audiences
You are an architectural writer. Project: [ONE-PARAGRAPH DESCRIPTION]. Design approach and key moves: [LIST]. Materials: [LIST]. Context and site: [DESCRIBE]. Applicable design guidelines or review criteria: [PASTE OR SUMMARIZE]. Write three narratives. First, for the design review board, under 400 words, organized by their criteria, stating how the design meets each and where we request flexibility. Second, for the client, under 250 words, focused on how the design serves their program, budget and schedule. Third, a 60-word project description for our website in plain language. No superlatives, no invented history of the site, and no claims about performance or sustainability that I did not list.
Tip: Check each guideline reference against the board's actual document before it goes in the submission.
RFI response draft
You are assisting an architect during construction administration. RFI [NUMBER] from [CONTRACTOR]: [PASTE RFI TEXT]. My marked-up answer and notes: [PASTE OR DESCRIBE]. Relevant sheets and details: [LIST SHEET NUMBERS AND DETAIL REFERENCES]. Spec sections involved: [LIST]. Write a numbered, unambiguous response that answers exactly what was asked, references the sheets, details and spec sections I listed, states whether the response changes the contract documents and whether the contractor has claimed a cost or time impact, and lists any consultant who must confirm before issue (structural, MEP, civil). Do not add design direction beyond my notes. Under 200 words.
Tip: If the response touches structure, life safety or a consultant's scope, it waits for their sign-off no matter how clear it reads.
Field report from a site-visit memo
You are writing a construction field observation report for [PROJECT NAME AND NUMBER], visit on [DATE], weather [DESCRIBE], present [LIST]. Transcript of my walk-through memo: [PASTE TRANSCRIPT]. Our report format: [LIST SECTIONS]. Sort observations by trade or location, number each item, and mark whether it is an observation, a question for the contractor, or a nonconforming item to be corrected. Carry forward these open items from the last report: [PASTE OR WRITE NONE]. Use neutral language, no opinions about workmanship beyond what I stated, and mark anything I said uncertainly as TO CONFIRM.
Tip: Match each nonconforming item to a photo before you issue; the report is part of the project record.
Want a prompt for something else? Use the Prompt Builder.
Skills to build
Questioning documents with citations
Why: The adopted code, the zoning ordinance and your own standards are long. A tool that answers with page citations is a faster index, as long as you always read the page.
How: Build one NotebookLM notebook per active project with the adopted code, amendments and program, and ask every code question there first.
Knowing the edition problem
Why: Models blend code editions and jurisdictions, and the difference between two editions on one table can change your design.
How: Always state the adopted edition and upload the text; treat any answer without a section citation as unverified.
Drafting from your own notes
Why: Field reports, RFI responses, narratives and minutes take hours after the site visit. Drafting from a transcript makes the writing follow the walk instead of the evening.
How: Record a voice memo on every site visit and run it through the field report prompt before you leave the parking lot.
Honest use of AI imagery
Why: Concept images are useful for mood and material studies and dangerous when a client mistakes them for the design or for something that will pass code.
How: Label every AI image as concept imagery in your presentations and agree with the client in writing how such images will be used.
Holding the line on responsibility
Why: The seal means you verified it, and licensing boards, plan reviewers and your insurer expect exactly that. Delegating a draft is fine; delegating a decision is not.
How: Write a firm memo listing what AI may draft and what only a licensed architect or consultant decides (code interpretations, egress, structure, accessibility compliance) and add it to your QA checklist.
Tools worth knowing
NotebookLM
A research notebook that only answers from the sources you give it, with citations.
Claude
A careful writing and analysis assistant that shines on long documents.
ChatGPT
The general-purpose AI assistant most of your coworkers already use.
Midjourney
The image generator with the strongest aesthetic, now with video and a real web app.
Adobe Firefly
Adobe's commercially safe generative AI, built into Photoshop, Illustrator, and Express.
Perplexity
An answer engine that cites its sources, built for research rather than chat.
Cautions for architects
As the architect of record you are responsible for every sheet you stamp. Code interpretations, egress calculations, accessibility compliance and structural coordination are yours or your consultants', and an AI code summary is where you start looking, never the analysis itself. Models also blend code editions and miss local amendments, so every cited section gets read in the adopted text. Licensing boards, plan reviewers and your liability insurer will hold you to that.
Documents for unbuilt projects, security-sensitive buildings (schools, courthouses, data centers, labs) and anything under NDA must not go into consumer tools. Use firm-approved tools with data-retention controls, keep addresses and client names out of prompts, and never paste confidential project data into a consumer AI tool unless your firm has approved it.
The US Copyright Office has stated that material generated by AI without sufficient human authorship is not protected by copyright, and generated images may resemble existing buildings. Label concept imagery, check what your client contract says about deliverables and IP, and never present AI images as renderings of the design.
An AI-drafted spec that references a discontinued product or the wrong standard becomes a change order. Verify product data against current manufacturer sheets and referenced standards, and give every AI draft the same review a junior's draft would get.
Your 30-day plan
- Week 1: write the firm memo on what AI may draft and what only a licensed architect or consultant decides, and confirm which tools are approved for project documents.
- Week 1: build a NotebookLM notebook for one active project with the adopted code, local amendments and the program.
- Week 2: run the code applicability prompt on that project and read every cited section; note where it was wrong.
- Week 2: draft your next design narrative or fee proposal with AI, then check every guideline and scope reference.
- Week 3: record your next site visit as a voice memo, produce the field report from the transcript, and use the RFI prompt for one week of construction administration.
- Week 4: run one concept-imagery session in Midjourney or Firefly for a materials study, labeled as AI concept imagery, and set the firm's rule on how such images are shown to clients.
Frequently asked questions
Will AI replace architects?
Can AI do a code analysis?
Is it okay to show clients AI-generated renderings?
What is the best AI tool for architects?
Can AI write specifications?
Terms used on this page
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