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Is there something similar to this which lets you visualize floor plans from listed homes when you are house hunting?
We are working on being able to upload a floor plan to start editing, which hopefully opens this door a bit.
Do you have a background in homebuilding? Or have you ever built anything before?
Visualizing the design is one thing, but the feasibility must be considered -- and often vetted through engineer(s) -- from the initial design phase. And even then, despite the best planning attempts, inevitably there will be some issues that need to be addressed 'on-the-ground' during construction.
I think you may be onto something, and I believe LLM models could be capable of accounting for e.g. code restrictions, structural considerations, MEP conflicts, etc. Most of the 'knowledge' homebuilders accumulate is trainable and repeatable. And- at least in the US- most of it has been codified/standardized in the IRC. But still there are tons of little caveats & gotchas to consider. Maybe those details could be addressed directly in your system prompts?
Also curious: what kind of "other files" does Drafted export "for the rest of the pre-construction process"? IDK to what extent you've used any existing home design software, but Home Designer/Chief Architect are capable of creating a (detailed) BOM for the entire build, down to every member of framing lumber. If the user chooses to enter price information, they can also provide cost estimates. A seemingly obvious AI-assisted improvement would be gathering price data automatically- say from the Lowe's or similar Big Box Hardware nearest to the user's location. And ideally keeping it updated as lumber & other materials fluctuate in cost.
To me a really capable AI design software could also be capable of: - Basic electrical load calculations - HVAC/ Schedule D [ductwork] design - Structural considerations- e.g., recommending a joist plan: type/size/direction/spacing of floor joists + validating against IRC and/or joist manufacturer load tables - and a whole lot more
I have a number of other ideas in case you're interested. Feel free to send an email (in profile).
PS- are you familiar with BIM software (like AutoDesk Revvit)? There a lot of 3D modeling capabilities you could borrow that go way beyond floor plans and aesthetic architectural considerations.
This is interesting and cool for entertainment, but it's extremely hard to picture using this as a replacement for an architect. We're building an ADU right now and the floorplan design was a very small part of what our architect did. So much more of the value came from the relationships he has with the structural and geotechnical engineers we used as well as the relationship with our city building department. This r…
How much structural and geotechnical detail does an ADU need?
This is interesting and cool for entertainment, but it's extremely hard to picture using this as a replacement for an architect. We're building an ADU right now and the floorplan design was a very small part of what our architect did. So much more of the value came from the relationships he has with the structural and geotechnical engineers we used as well as the relationship with our city building department. This r…
This is just one aspect but it’s still useful. Many people want to see a house and say “please help me make that”. In Australia there’s a set of house patterns that reduce the overhead of just landing a design and pushing it through the admin hurdles.
There is probably more money in this as entertainment than architecture. And less liability. How many of us have made house plans at some point?
This is interesting and cool for entertainment, but it's extremely hard to picture using this as a replacement for an architect. We're building an ADU right now and the floorplan design was a very small part of what our architect did. So much more of the value came from the relationships he has with the structural and geotechnical engineers we used as well as the relationship with our city building department. This r…
From there, I kicked the PDF to a completely unrelated structural engineer that gave engineering specs, a few extra drawings that are standard copy pastes from his previous efforts, and his stamp (cost $600.)
From there, I had everything I needed to get accurate bids from general contractors and permits. Nobody needs to have any special city level connections in my major US city if you follow general code standards along the way they have to approve it. The GC knows what the on site inspectors will pass/fail as sometimes they play by different rules. At the end of the day, GC can always pull out the code book and prove an inspector wrong. Doing so tactfully is part of their jobs as inspectors are a revolving door and not always as knowledgeable as you’d think they should be.
Note. I don’t live in an area where seismic is an issue.
I'll bite. I'm currently building a new home based on plans of my own design, literally taking a lunch break now from hanging electrical gangboxes. Do you have a background in homebuilding? Or have you ever built anything before? Visualizing the design is one thing, but the feasibility must be considered -- and often vetted through engineer(s) -- from the initial design phase. And even then, despite the best planning…
I started and ran a tech-enabled pre-construction service for ~6 years and grew up in a homebuilding family.
Codes, structural, MEP, and pricing are definitely huge pieces of the buildability puzzle. These are layers we plan to train into the model. Right now we are focused on the schematic level ideation process. So figuring out the flow and shape that can often a take a while to stabilize in the architectural design process.
Once we have this tooling built out, we will add more layers of context that helps make better buildability and cost decisions.
Super familiar with other BIM software. Chief Architect is a more residentially opinionated one. We are hoping to bridge the gap between these high-skill bar softwares and anyone wanting to design. Their capabilities and data structures are helpful robust usability. Just a bit complicated for most people. We are working on more interopability, so people can continue in whatever workflow while we are focused on the schematic level design phase (currently have DXF, IFC, GLB, and PDF exporting).
I'll shoot you an email :)
This is interesting and cool for entertainment, but it's extremely hard to picture using this as a replacement for an architect. We're building an ADU right now and the floorplan design was a very small part of what our architect did. So much more of the value came from the relationships he has with the structural and geotechnical engineers we used as well as the relationship with our city building department. This r…
As counterpoint. I’m also building an ADU and no architect was needed. I had a drafter iterate on a layout document, most of it was deciding things like windows, door and cabinet layout. It’s not super necessary but informative to layout out MEPs (cost $800.) Although, we didn’t need colored or 3D renders, not value added for us. From there, I kicked the PDF to a completely unrelated structural engineer that gave eng…
Majority of homes being constructed in the US are done in areas where as long as you follow the general code standards, you'll be able to get approval. This is why template house plan websites exist.
A very standard process for a builder is buy or use a template -> make tweaks with a drafter -> structural engineer for additional structural documents and stamping (liability) -> submit for permitting.
This opens the market for a tool like ours. In the short term, it won't be as helfpul in strict markets, just pure ideation, but over time that'll change with the model learning how to ingest local codes standards for designing within.
This looks awesome for showing an architect what you have in mind. I would not try to replace one though.