How Top Firms See AI Shaping Architecture’s Workflows

Published on December 04, 2025

As artificial intelligence tools sweep through creative industries, architecture stands at a pivotal moment: how to adopt systems that amplify design thinking without eroding authorship or craft. To understand how the profession is responding, AIRI Lab surveyed designers and leaders from practices including LWK+P, MVRDV, Gensler, Büro Ole Scheeren, CUBE, HUAYI, and others. Their responses reveal a nuanced, pragmatic view: AI is a collaborator rather than a substitute.

AI's Immediate Value: Speed and Optioning

Across design firms, respondents emphasized two immediate gains: speed and the ability to generate options. Alexandre Perrossier (LWK+P) framed the case strategically: "Architecture needs AI now to manage increasing complexity, accelerate decision-making, and explore design possibilities beyond human limits." Zhang Yi (Gensler) echoed the urgency, focusing on iteration:

AI accelerates the cognitive loop, enabling us to explore more within the same time and shift repetitive work toward high-value decision-making.

This acceleration is not merely about producing prettier images. For many studios, AI shortens the exploratory phase and brings client alignment earlier. Hu Fei (HUAYI) described: Designers can instantly generate multiple design options and reverse-engineer the design from the generated image once a direction is approved.

A Human Author Still Holds the Pen

Speed matters, but authorship remains central. Several respondents emphasized that AI recombines patterns quickly but lacks the intentionality behind human creativity. Zhang Yi (Gensler) offered a constructive frame: authorship stems from "intention, definition, and narration." Fredy Fortich (MVRDV) put it plainly:

AI is a power tool rather than a magic wand.

In practice, teams will need to become expert curators: prompt-crafters, critical editors, and translators of AI outputs into buildable proposals. Yang Danli (ZHUBO) warned that generated imagery can misinterpret materials and logic, requiring designers to intervene with technical and aesthetic judgment. At the same time, AI is shifting roles rather than eliminating them.

Perrossier anticipates "hybrid collaboration—data specialists, computational designers, and creative leads working symbiotically." Dan Cheong (Büro Ole Scheeren) added that future architects will be valued for their integrated reasoning and human collaboration.

Quality, Identity, and the Risk of Homogenization

Many participants expressed concern about "algorithmic uniformity." Dan Cheong (Büro Ole Scheeren) argued that sensitivity is required at both "aesthetic and procedural" levels. The countermeasures are familiar: build private models, fine-tune workflows, and embed ethical governance. At the same time, speakers emphasized that AI varies across the project lifecycle. Rather than a monolithic solution, AI functions as a suite of tools that support different stages:

Concept & early design—idea expansion, instant visual options, client alignment: high impact
Schematic & development—rendering assistance and rapid optioneering: moderate impact
Production & construction—automating repetitive drafting tasks, BIM collaboration and quality checks: growing impact

How Top Firms See AI Shaping Architecture’s Workflows - Image 6 of 8 — AI helps designers explore multiple form variations based on the same building massing. Image Courtesy of AIRI Lab

As Michael (SZ DDON) summarized, AI should be used where precision is lower and creative bandwidth is most beneficial, and expert oversight should be retained where technical rigor is required.

Practical Challenges and the Mindset to Adopt

Barriers to adoption are straightforward: data preparation, tool costs, and cultural resistance. Bob (CUBE) highlighted market anxieties; a downturn can make firms risk-averse, but also pointed to new opportunities unlocked by AI, such as rapid, small-scale renovations and personalized storefronts. Hu Fei (HUAYI) cautioned against over-reliance on image quality, reminding users that:

AI images should be treated as decision accelerators, not final construction visuals.

Across respondents, the consistent prescription is cultural: curiosity, humility, and a habit of experimental learning matter more than the latest model. As Wu Haolin from CPG (Singapore) put it: "New technologies may not always be disruptive, but without them, true innovation will never happen."

How Top Firms See AI Shaping Architecture’s Workflows - Image 2 of 8 — AI helps designers quickly generate multiple renovation design options. Image Courtesy of AIRI Lab

What the Next Decade Looks Like

Looking ahead, participants converged on a vision of AI that moves beyond image generation toward genuine partnership. Michael (SZ DDON) imagines a "generative design partner" with reasoning, performance prediction, and conversational interfaces—a tool that can talk through trade-offs rather than only producing images. Fortich (MVRDV) envisions future AI capable of generating code to automate repetitive tasks, open the door to parametric optimization, and create buildings that offer greater comfort and better daylight for their users. In parallel, the survey suggests the profession is ready to adopt AI, but cautiously: integrate AI to remain competitive, but do so on your own terms, with governance, internal tooling, and a focus on cultural change that preserves creativity and craft.

How Top Firms See AI Shaping Architecture’s Workflows - Image 3 of 8 — AI assists designers in evaluating the appropriateness of the massing and assessing whether the spatial quality at key points is comfortable. Image Courtesy of AIRI Lab

AIRI Lab: Bridging Architects and AI

These findings mirror AIRI Lab's practical approach. Built by architects, for architects, AIRI Lab develops products and services dedicated to accelerating the integration of AI into the design workflow. Rather than positioning AI as a replacement for designers, AIRI Lab develops tools that enhance creativity, precision, and efficiency within architectural practice, collaborating with leading design firms across Asia and globally through real projects to develop tailored AI solutions, including dataset curation, model fine-tuning, and integrated R&D pilots. Its professional AIGC platform enables architectural concept generation and iteration with architectural logic, helping studios transform early design stages, streamline visualization processes, and inspire new forms of architectural thinking.