You’ve probably seen it, type a few words into an AI engine and suddenly you’ve got a beautiful house design — perched on a cliff, wrapped in glass, looking like something out of a magazine.
So the question is – Can AI actually design a home on your site in New Zealand?
Lets dig into it.
AI is already part of how we design
We’re not anti-AI — far from it.
We’re actively using tools like ChatGPT, Google Gemini and various other AI engines in our day to day workflows. Previously we used Midjourney for concept imagery.
Currently we’re using AI engines to upscale renders, bring them to life, add color, add background, and help our clients visualise their finished project.
Image creation in particular has gone from average to seriously impressive in a short space of time, and very interactive through language prompts. AI does a stellar job in bringing words to life.
The below for example is a simple prompt of an over-water villa resort in the Bay of Islands. How’s that!
The AI Challenge: It looks great, but it isn’t accurate.
Where things start to fall over is with accuracy. AI is very good at producing something that looks like a house, or looks like a finished development, but often it just doesn’t work.
It’s not very good at producing something that is:
- buildable
- compliant
- suited to your specific site
- accurate in dimensions, structure, and layout
Making AI design more accurate
What we’ve found (very quickly) is that if you give the AI engine lines and a scale to work off, it does alot better job and is alot more accurate.
Even a quick sketch to show it the scale or angle you want something drawn as will do the trick, but again – it’s still not deadly accurate and doesn’t ‘consider everything’.
Avoiding AI ‘slop’ and Clients wanting human interaction
Our biggest fear is that the growing wave of AI content increases the amount of sloppy design work being produced. Designs are released that aren’t well thought through, driveways don’t work, zone rules are breached, roof junctions will leak.
Also, our clients will still want human interaction when they’re spending several million on their home or development. Us humans have a 6th sense or gut feel that AI doesn’t have, and we won’t always just agree with something to please the user.
We firmly believe in using every AI tool we can muster as they develop, but being cautious not to ruin the end result of our projects.
Our Future Prediction of AI in Architecture
We 100% believe that AI will change the way Architects and Architectural Designers will work with clients and their projects.
Soon, you might walk into our office with the address of your property and over an hour or two we may be able to get full zone rules, sun study, wind study, discuss house layouts and options, and run through adjustments and changes to plan options and see the immediate implication on budget.
It’s all a dream at this point but at the rate things are moving it could happen. Watch this space.
So, can AI design your house in New Zealand?
Currently the answer is no. Yes it can help with quick visualisations, design ideas and material choices. But when it comes to detailed design, accurate construction detailing, foundation plans, engineering, roof and cladding junctions and the myriads of other details we provide to keep a project compliant with NZ regulations, it’s not there yet.
Here at Arcline Architecture we’re doing our level best to keep at the forefront of AI for Architecture to ensure we’re using it in the best way possible in every one of our projects.
Contact the Arcline Team to discuss your project today.