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November 11, 2024

Artificial intelligence gains momentum in Connecticut architecture

HBJ PHOTO | MICHAEL PUFFER Nicholas P. Michnevitz III is president of West Hartford-based MBH Architecture, which is using artificial intelligence applications to help create building renderings.
By Michael Puffer

Generative artificial intelligence is just beginning to creep into the architecture field, but top Connecticut developers have begun dabbling with it in some of their most ambitious projects.

In East Hartford, AI helped develop a conceptual vision for transforming 28 acres of the Founders Plaza office park into a large-scale, mixed-use development featuring about 1,000 apartments, condos, an expanded riverside trail system and 400,000 square feet of restaurant, retail and entertainment space.

Nicholas P. Michnevitz III, president of West Hartford-based MBH Architecture and a partner in the “Port Eastside” development, said AI applications allowed his firm to generate hundreds of potential design images for the first apartment building in two days, a task that otherwise would have taken up to two months.

That increased speed allows MBH to consult clients on preferences and alternatives much sooner, granting them far greater flexibility and input on final designs, Michnevitz said.

“It’s allowed our clients to engage in a project earlier than ever before, and be more involved in the design and look,” Michnevitz said.

Port Eastside was announced last year as an $841 million development. The partnership has since acquired all privately held properties needed for their plan.

Growing importance

Michnevitz said his 26-person firm began dabbling with AI programs around the start of 2024, and has used them for six ongoing projects, including the design of a new office building along the Farmington River, and a 150-bed, 225,000-square-foot skilled nursing facility planned for New Haven.

So far, two MBH employees have trained on four AI-enabled platforms – including ChatGPT, Adobe, Midjourney and LookX AI Cloud. The latter is the most frequently used by MBH, as it allows a design concept to be fed into the system, and then generates design variations based on prompts.

The firm is spending about $5,000 annually for AI product subscriptions, Michnevitz said. He imagines that cost, as well as investments in staff training, will rise as AI products become more refined.

On the Port Eastside development, AI has only been used to imagine the outside envelope of buildings. However, Michnevitz said he expects the programs to eventually be able to offer more sophisticated and detailed drawings.

It’s a technology in its infancy, but likely will become an industry-standard tool within five years, he said.

“As architects, we are always aspiring to create better environments,” Michnevitz said. “We are always looking toward the future and looking at what the built environment is going to be. We went from hand drawing for thousands of years, to CAD (computer-aided design), and now, through all the other software, to advancements in AI.”

Even so, architecture will always require human hands and brains to double-check math and guide concepts, he stressed.

Time is of the essence

Christopher Reilly, president and CEO of Hartford-based multifamily developer Lexington Partners, said generative AI has begun to make its potential impact felt in architecture and development over the past nine months or so.

AI can flesh out a building design sooner, saving time and money, and provide greater design flexibility, he said.

“By being able to have something that gives us multiple options, multiple choices, even down to the skin color of the building, it will have an impact on the future of projects,” Reilly said. “It’s so interesting and it really is very inexpensive. We used to pay architects $10,000 or $20,000 for one of those renderings. And now, AI does it and my bill might be $300 or $400.”

Daniel Horowitz, director of the graduate architecture program at the University of Hartford, said AI can be a huge labor saver and help spark creativity by providing different variations of a design on-demand. For now, it’s one of many tools for trained architects, who are needed to curate, refine and execute concepts, he said.

Horowitz mused that AI, like past innovations, could take over some work performed by people, but also create new tasks.

“When you’re on the development side of a project, you’re always trying to look at how do I get to the end of the line spending the least amount of money possible, right?” Horowitz said. “And sometimes when one does that, one forgets about the intangibles, about urbanism and what the built environment does and what kind of effect it has on people in intangible ways. You can’t always quantify that in the short term. And I think that maybe some of those aspects and some of the value that we place in architects might become devalued, unfortunately.”

Feasibility studies

Developer Randy Salvatore, founder and CEO of Stamford-based RMS Cos., agreed that AI-generated conceptual renderings save time, money and lead to greater flexibility for developers.

He used Virginia-based Lessard Design as the architect for “The Pennant,” a 270-unit apartment building he completed across from Hartford’s Dunkin’ Park in 2022, and a 228-unit project underway nearby.

Ulises Montes De Oca

Ulises Montes De Oca, Lessard’s vice president, said AI architecture applications are still experimental, but will inevitably become common tools.

Los Angeles-based Zenerate offers an AI-powered application that helps identify potential building sites based on development goals like budget, square footage and unit count, Montes De Oca said. The application even generates a basic architectural design, he said.

“We work for real estate developers that do mass production of homes all over the country, and the first thing that has to work is the numbers and the unit layout,” Montes De Oca said. “So, even before we imagine a beautiful building, we have to make sure the numbers work, and those are the tools we’re focused on finding.”

Benji Shin

Benji (Bongjai) Shin, CEO and co-founder of Zenerate, said his company launched two AI applications this year. Zenerate Modular produces real-time feasibility studies for factory-built housing developments, including design options and financial analysis.

Zenerate App provides basic site plan design options for multifamily housing, which can then be downloaded into more traditional design software for fine-tuning.

Zenerate launched in 2020 as a technology-driven consultant for large general contractors and development firms. It developed its AI applications using $4.9 million in investment capital, Shin said. Currently, it has about 400 users.

As the application is refined and gains traction, Shin said he aims to tap into around 5% of the roughly 250,000 developers, designers and architects in the U.S.

“I can guarantee in the next five years everybody will be using AI-powered software for their feasibility studies,” Shin said.

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