ENR 2024 Top Design Firms Sourcebook: Artificial intelligence is on the rise

Feedback from the top 500 design firms in 2024 reveals a shift in the use of artificial intelligence to complement design services. Last year, AI was the exception rather than the rule, but this year more design professionals are looking to integrate technology into operations. With ongoing labor challenges, inflation and supply chain disruptions still driving up construction costs, companies say AI could be the X-factor that helps projects stay profitable.

“AI has the potential not only to improve the efficiency of our teams and the quality of our projects, but also to help address staffing shortages,” says Andy Platz, CEO and President of Mead & Hunt. “By delegating tasks to AI, from communication to the design process, its tools offer both promise and risk, and therefore must be managed by licensed professionals to ensure the quality of the work performed.”

AO managing partner RC Alley says the firm has been actively experimenting with ways to integrate artificial intelligence into its practice as it begins to take off in the AEC sector.

“We strongly believe that artificial intelligence is not just a passing trend, but a permanent fixture in our industry,” he says. “We’ve found that AI serves as a powerful tool for ideation and design research. During the conceptual phase, it allows our designers to explore multiple alternatives and visualize possibilities, significantly expanding our creative vision.”

In addition, Alley notes that the company has leveraged AI tools for zoning validation and research, allowing it to quickly explore alternative paths that have marginal impacts on employee workloads.

“While we embrace the benefits that AI brings to our practice, we remain grounded in the understanding that it can never fully replace our accumulated experience in the real world,” he says. “Our commitment to combining cutting-edge technology with human insight ensures we deliver the best possible outcomes for clients and communities.”

Like the industry’s adoption of Revit and BIM technologies, AI is poised to transform the design process in an even faster timeframe, explains Brian Staton, president and CEO of HMC Architects.

“In the future, technology will continue to change this profession with BIM and artificial intelligence,” he says.

Beyond AI, the top 500 companies say they are exploring full digital integration in their businesses to improve efficiency and reduce labor waste.

Arup says it is close to achieving “true digital and physical integration” with the help of digital twins using AI algorithms.

At GZA, President and CEO Patrick Sheehan says a mix of virtual reality, digital twins and telemetry is helping the company deliver near-real-time information and decision-making to customers.

Mixed reality and digital engineering take this process one step further at GHD. President Kumar Parakala says the technology allows the company to leverage the best of the virtual and physical domains.

“Freed from geographic barriers, projects are visualized in a visually rich and interactive space that allows technical and non-technical users and the public to better understand the complexities of the project, and this is just one of many possibilities,” says Parakala.

In general, technology integration increases a company’s flexibility, says Bill Kwon, chief technology officer at HMC Architects.

“As we all experienced during and after the pandemic, being digitally agile in collaboration has made us even more effective in sharing ideas, collective design activities and faster validation,” he says.

According to Scott Crawford, principal architect and landscape architect at RDG Planning and Design, the use of AI and more digital tools make design an entirely visual process.

“The faster we make it immersive, the easier it is to build consensus on ideas and alignment around inspired design,” says Crawford. “This allows our team to quickly select viable solutions as a baseline for exploration, saving hundreds of hours in design.”

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