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ME Construction
15-07-2025
- ME Construction
Architectural AI: Designing better buildings while maintaining the human touch
Experts Architectural AI: Designing better buildings while maintaining the human touch By RIBA Chartered Architect Nikoleta Stefanaki shares her thoughts on the use of AI in architecture and why it should remain a support tool rather than a decision-maker Artificial intelligence (AI) is already a part of our daily lives. From site analysis and energy modeling to floor plans and performance simulations, it's becoming just another tool in our design process. In the Middle East, where projects move fast and expectations are high, AI does not feel revolutionary anymore, it simply feels expected. However, the fundamental concerns in architecture remain the same, even as the tools change: Who are we building for? What kind of experience are we trying to create? How can we ensure that the structures we design have significance rather than just statistical value? The challenge now is not whether or not to use AI. It is how to use it effectively without allowing it to flatten what defines architecture. More options, but less significance? AI gives us more options than ever. Enter a few parameters, and soon you will have hundreds of variations, daylight studies, and performance recommendations. That is helpful, especially under pressure. You get faster insight and early-stage clarity. According to the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), 41% of UK practices are already using AI tools for concept generation and visualisation. Speed and structure are undeniably valuable, but they are not enough. More choices do not always lead to better decisions. AI can calculate efficiency but it doesn't understand emotion. It can simulate light angles but not how sunlight across a floor makes someone feel at peace. It doesn't worry about a loved one in a hospital corridor. It doesn't pause to reflect. That's our job. Design is more than optimisation. It's about life, memory, comfort, culture. AI may tell us where to put a window for heat gain but it won't tell us where to place it so someone wakes up feeling calm. Allow AI to perform tasks that it is capable of doing AI has benefits that are well worth pursuing. In terms of performance-based design, it is outstanding. Before a single wall is built, it can simulate daylight, project thermal comfort, test ventilation, and calculate energy loads. That's quite significant at our current temperatures. Getting performance right leads to less waste, lower energy consumption, and increased comfort. AI, when combined with accurate data, can help us achieve sustainability goals with greater confidence and speed. As highlighted in a RIBA article, 57% of architects expect to use AI for environmental analysis within two years, identifying it as one of the most promising areas of application. The UAE's own national AI Strategy 2031 supports this momentum, targeting high-level integration of AI across sectors- including the built environment. However, performance alone does not define a successful building. We've all seen perfectly designed environments that appear frigid or detached. While atmosphere, context, and emotion are equally important (and cannot be defined by AI), numbers remain fundamental. Design for people, not just output We are also becoming more aware of the extent to which the built environment influences our well-being. Light, air, acoustics, orientation, and other factors all influence how people feel. AI is helping us understand these connections by processing massive amounts of data from real-world projects. That's handy. We could strategically arrange classrooms in a school, so that daylight is maximised, while glare is reduced. We could also consider redesigning the hospital circulation system to reduce the amount of walking by staff members and provide more relaxing areas for patients to wait. However, well-being is more than just numbers. It is emotional, it is how a student feels their first day in a new classroom. A patient finds comfort in a setting that lacks a clinical atmosphere. Although AI cannot define those outcomes, it can support them. It still takes people and designers who pay attention and are concerned. A tool, not a decision-maker AI, like any other tool, has limitations. The quality of AI depends on the training data, which often originates from diverse regions and societies. What makes sense in the United States or Scandinavia is not always applicable in the Gulf. We cannot accept AI results without question. We need to ask, is this logical here? Does it reflect the way people live, work, and socialise here? Transparency is also important. AI is beginning to shape decisions that affect people's lives, including financial, emotional, and social outcomes. If we're answering those calls with algorithms, we need to understand why and how they work. RIBA's research reflects this tension: 34% of architects view AI as threat, voicing concerns about design imitation and loss of creativity. The profession is cautiously optimistic but not uncritical. In his book 'Machine Learning: Architecture in the age of AI', architect and Yale professor Philip G. Bernstein emphasises that AI should be viewed as an augmentation, rather than a substitute for architectural intelligence. He writes, 'the architect's role is not only to generate options, but also to apply judgment to those options in ways that are culturally, contextually, and ethically appropriate.' In other words, AI can provide infinite iterations, but only humans can decide what matters. Our involvement is changing rather than disappearing Although it is easy to believe that AI is transforming our field of work, this does not imply that it is replacing us. Our responsibility is, if anything, growing. Architects shape experiences, manage complexity, and interpret needs; they don't just draw buildings. The more powerful our tools become, the more important it is that we actively guide them. We are the ones who set the priorities and investigate the appropriate issues to ensure that the outcome benefits actual people, not just performance goals. We have the opportunity to lead this transformation in the Middle East, where things move quickly and consumers are open to creativity. However, innovation does not imply sprinting to automate. It entails keeping the parts that are most important to people in our hands while utilising AI where it is beneficial. Where people still come first AI can help us become smarter, faster, and more precise designers. It still doesn't know what is best for a specific family, community, or city with a unique history. It has no idea what a place represents, or what it may mean in the future. And that's why we came into this field. The best architecture is ultimately human-made. It's more than just clever or efficient; it's intuitive, emotional, and deeply connected to the way people live. AI may help us build faster and smarter, but it can't replace the insight that comes from truly understanding a place, a culture, or a community. At its core, architecture is not just about structure, it's about belongings. And no algorithm can replace the human instinct to design for life.
New Statesman
04-07-2025
- General
- New Statesman
We need to ensure that we don't sacrifice quality design in the rush to 1.5 million homes
Photo by Shutterstock The government has committed to an ambitious target of delivering 1.5 million homes across the country during the course of this parliament. With 1.3 million households in England currently on social housing waiting lists, and research showing that building 90,000 social rented homes would add £51.2bn to the economy, there are clear moral and economic cases to make this happen. However, we need to guarantee that we don't sacrifice quality design in the rush to meet this aim. This means ensuring that buildings are designed proactively and strategically to meet the needs of residents and communities, while adhering to safety, sustainability and accessibility principles. At the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), we know that this is sorely needed – data from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has shown that 54 per cent of local authorities surveyed in 2023 reported skills gaps in urban design and architecture, impacting the quality of delivery at all scales. Architects have a clear role to play in rectifying this, making sure that the homes we build are fit not just for the way we live now, but also for the future. This means designing homes with different typologies and prioritising a mix of tenures, with the aim of meeting current and projected need across all tenure types. Our 2024 report, Foundations for the Future, looks at one way to do just that – through an innovative model which proposes a one-off initial investment from central government to local authorities to deliver high-quality, well-designed homes for social rent and market sale. Making sure that social housing is also designed to exemplary standards is vital to the success of the government's housebuilding programme, and we know what difference it can make to people's lives. The winner of RIBA's 2019 Stirling Prize, Goldsmith Street, demonstrates this – not only do residents live in attractive, well-built homes, but also enjoy reduced energy bills due to the design solutions employed. On a wider scale, best practice design in terms of new homes also means considering design on the scale of place – bringing homes, public transport options, schools and workplaces, retail, green space and community space within close enough proximity to avoid overreliance on personal car use and maximise quality of life. Subscribe to The New Statesman today from only £8.99 per month Subscribe This could be medium to high density neighbourhoods, mixed use development to maximise opportunities for interaction and access to shops and community facilities, and utilising sites near transport hubs. Architects are also well-placed to unlock challenging sites such as infill sites to deliver homes, using design solutions to increase volume and tackle viability issues. In doing so, new homes can benefit from existing infrastructure. Putting design quality at the front and centre of the way we look at housing delivery will require a real change in the way we think, particularly given the bold target that the government has set. But the economic and social gains we can make from ensuring that the homes we build improve our quality of life mean that it's one worth making. Related
Leader Live
02-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Leader Live
New series of Grand Designs: House of the Year announced
The four-part series will be broadcast on Channel 4 this autumn, following a new series of Grand Designs, and will see McCloud present the programme alongside architects Damion Burrows and Natasha Huq. In each episode, viewers will visit the homes on the prestigious Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) shortlist, with the final episode unveiling the winner of the RIBA House of the Year 2025. McCloud said: 'This series celebrates, as ever, a sparkling range of what's possible in domestic architecture today. 'So, it's a great privilege to be able to help uncover these gems of creative imagination and of course it's a complete joy to be back presenting House of the Year alongside Natasha and Damion.' Huq said: 'These aren't just impressive homes, they challenge how we think about space, materials and the care of our resources. 'There is something deeply inspiring about the way architecture can quietly transform how we think about the world and our place within it, and I am excited to share that with viewers again this year.' McCloud has presented the original Grand Designs show since its inception in 1999, with the programme marking its 25th anniversary last September.
Wales Online
02-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Wales Online
New series of Grand Designs: House of the Year announced
New series of Grand Designs: House of the Year announced The four-part series will be broadcast on Channel 4 this autumn, following a new series of Grand Designs, and will see McCloud present the programme alongside architects Damion Burrows and Natasha Huq Kevin McCloud (Image: (Image: Channel 4) ) Kevin McCloud will return to TV screens for a new series of Grand Designs: House of the Year, to offer audiences a glimpse inside the country's most cutting-edge architecture. The four-part series will be broadcast on Channel 4 this autumn, following a new series of Grand Designs, and will see McCloud present the programme alongside architects Damion Burrows and Natasha Huq. In each episode, viewers will visit the homes on the prestigious Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) shortlist, with the final episode unveiling the winner of the RIBA House of the Year 2025. McCloud said: "This series celebrates, as ever, a sparkling range of what's possible in domestic architecture today. "So, it's a great privilege to be able to help uncover these gems of creative imagination and of course it's a complete joy to be back presenting House of the Year alongside Natasha and Damion." Article continues below Huq said: "These aren't just impressive homes, they challenge how we think about space, materials and the care of our resources. "There is something deeply inspiring about the way architecture can quietly transform how we think about the world and our place within it, and I am excited to share that with viewers again this year." McCloud has presented the original Grand Designs show since its inception in 1999, with the programme marking its 25th anniversary last September.
Rhyl Journal
02-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Rhyl Journal
New series of Grand Designs: House of the Year announced
The four-part series will be broadcast on Channel 4 this autumn, following a new series of Grand Designs, and will see McCloud present the programme alongside architects Damion Burrows and Natasha Huq. In each episode, viewers will visit the homes on the prestigious Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) shortlist, with the final episode unveiling the winner of the RIBA House of the Year 2025. McCloud said: 'This series celebrates, as ever, a sparkling range of what's possible in domestic architecture today. 'So, it's a great privilege to be able to help uncover these gems of creative imagination and of course it's a complete joy to be back presenting House of the Year alongside Natasha and Damion.' Huq said: 'These aren't just impressive homes, they challenge how we think about space, materials and the care of our resources. 'There is something deeply inspiring about the way architecture can quietly transform how we think about the world and our place within it, and I am excited to share that with viewers again this year.' McCloud has presented the original Grand Designs show since its inception in 1999, with the programme marking its 25th anniversary last September.
