As BSB Design continues to explore artificial intelligence (AI) tools at various stages of the product development process, some are rising to the top as real contenders with staying power. We’ve shifted from exploring and researching to fully investing in proven software platforms that leverage AI functionality in three key ways:
- Expedite workflows at every project stage
- Quickly provide multiple iterations of design concepts
- Allow our design professionals to easily manipulate outputs
EXPEDITE WORKFLOWS
Finding ways to add AI to the design professional’s toolbelt continues to pay dividends in terms of time savings, and it is proving most valuable at the very start of a project. Recently, we’ve introduced TestFit into our conceptual land planning exercise. The software allows our planners to greatly reduce the time required to complete comprehensive density studies and make initial product recommendations.
We’ve quickly learned that the experience of a seasoned veteran is invaluable when leveraging TestFit and similar technologies. For example, our understanding of an individual client’s preferred product type, construction methodology, even building and unit layout, all come into play when using the software. By applying our knowledge of these preferences to clearly define parameters like unit dimensions and building footprints, we’re able to arrive at a feasible concept very quickly, sometimes shaving days off the timeline.
A TestFit site solution is extrapolated to a 3D view to help the client better visualize the context.
ITERATE EXPONENTIALLY
Perhaps the greatest benefit of AI for planning is its ability to generate massive outputs very quickly. This means a potential site plan can be quickly and easily manipulated to offer options for a wide range of product types, building configurations and open space uses. The end game is still to maximize density and help developers monetize their land at the highest level possible, but AI is delivering iterations that spur interesting conversations about how best to get there.
Impressive speed paired with legitimate solutions has encouraged greater creativity from our planning teams as they weigh more options, consider additional alternatives, and really try to exhaust every potential opportunity – all at the conceptual stage. AI brings more feasible options to the table much faster, and as our planners whittle them down to the best uses for each site based on their experience, client knowledge and instincts, it generates immediate validation that can inform the developer’s decision to proceed or pull the plug.
ENABLE DESIGN FINESSE
The sheer computing power of the TestFit platform yields volume and variety that forces our design professionals to get more creative faster. Not all solutions are the right solutions, so a land planner is essential. Narrowing down the list of potentials can be a harrowing task when performed by an inexperienced user. But when paired with design training and experience in the field, a new level of creativity can be achieved in generating the ideal plan.
Shifting layouts, rotating buildings, reconsidering garage orientation, and other seemingly small adjustments can have a dramatic impact on the financial viability of a site. The design team can even assess estimated construction costs in real time as our land planners manipulate the study to gain insight about how their decisions will impact the pro forma. While we’ve always tried to see things from the developers’ perspective, this tool makes it easier than ever.
HUMANS VS. PLUS MACHINES
Design finesse continues to be an important element in every AI process we study. Designers learn and understand how lines on paper will translate to feelings and experience in the built environment. This human touch is still impossible to duplicate. But by pairing the power of AI tools like TestFit with the unique talent and experience of land planners and architects, we are able to bring out the best of both.
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CASE STUDY CONTRIBUTORS
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