AI and Architecture: Amplifying Human Agency

Recently, Place’s founder and director, Tamsyn Curley, attended the RIBA AI & Design Summit. The event brought together architects, technologists and industry leaders to explore how artificial intelligence is beginning to reshape architectural practice, prompting thoughtful discussions about the profession’s future.

Tamsyn felt that one line from the conference captured the mood particularly well:

“AI should amplify human agency, not automate it.”

Artificial intelligence has moved beyond novelty or speculative concept within architecture. It is already being used to generate design imagery, assist with visualisation workflows, automate documentation and streamline project administration.

Adoption is accelerating quickly. According to the RIBA AI Report 2025, the proportion of UK practices using AI rose from 41% in 2024 to 59% in 2025. This increase reflects a wider trend: AI tools are increasingly being integrated into everyday project environments rather than remaining isolated experiments.

However, the emerging pattern is not one of replacement. In most cases, AI is augmenting existing processes. It handles repetitive, administrative or computational tasks, allowing architects to spend more time on critical thinking, design judgement and creative exploration.

One of the most interesting voices at the RIBA summit was Studio Tim Fu, a London-based practice that has quickly become known for its integration of AI as a core element in its architectural practice.

The studio has developed what it describes as a hybrid creative–engineering pipeline, combining architects, designers, technologists and coders within the same design environment. Rather than treating AI as a separate tool, it is embedded directly into the studio’s working processes. Studio Tim Fu’s goal is to expand the capacity of designers, not to automate design: as Saina Abdollahzadeh of Studio Tim Fu explained during the summit, AI can create “more time for your own creativity and being the designer that you always wanted to be.”

Another important voice in this conversation is Keir Regan-Alexander, a former director at Morris+Company and founder of Arka Works, an AI consultancy for the built environment.

Keir works at the intersection of architectural practice and software development, helping studios integrate generative AI tools into everyday workflows. Through Arka Works, he supports businesses adapting to a rapidly evolving digital environment and developing a clearer understanding of both the opportunities and limitations of AI. In 2024 he also co-founded OmniChat, an enterprise-grade multi-model LLM platform now deployed in practices across Europe and the United States.

We recently hosted Keir at a Place event attended by some of London’s leading architectural directors. During the session he shared practical advice on how architects can communicate more effectively with large language models, emphasising the importance of providing clear documentation, structured examples and carefully defined context to the LLMs.

He also highlighted a key principle for responsible use of AI tools: architects should only delegate tasks they already understand. This allows designers to evaluate results produced by LLMs critically and maintain control over the design process.

Alongside the excitement surrounding AI, the RIBA summit also surfaced an important note of caution. Several speakers warned about the risk of relying too heavily on automated outputs, which could lead to a future of increasingly uniform, utilitarian AI-generated design. When designers allow algorithms to dictate outcomes, the individuality and judgement that define architecture can quickly be lost.

Used thoughtfully, AI works best as an assistant. It can analyse information, generate options and accelerate repetitive processes. However, the architect’s role remains central. Design intent, creative direction and professional judgement must still come from the human designer. Many speakers emphasised that the most successful practices will be those that place human craft and decision-making at the centre of AI-assisted workflows.

For recruitment specialists like us, these developments have important implications. As AI becomes embedded in architectural practice, the skills that studios value are evolving. Professionals who can translate computational insights into meaningful design decisions are likely to become increasingly valuable. New roles are also beginning to emerge within practices, particularly around data organisation and AI integration. At the RIBA summit, Gensler’s creative AI lead Hamza Shaikh suggested that studios may soon hire specialists responsible for managing AI systems, structuring design data and ensuring different digital tools communicate effectively with one another.

The conversation around AI often swings between hype and fear. In reality, the profession appears to be moving toward something more balanced.

AI is unlikely to replace architects, but it will reshape how architecture is practiced.

As Keir Regan-Alexander has observed, the role of the architect is likely to evolve significantly in the coming years. Yet he also emphasises that architects remain essential. He noted, “we need to understand our value with the rise of AI and we need to be the best at using it.” The challenge for us is not to compete with AI, but to become highly skilled in using it to ensure that human insight and professional judgement remain at the centre of the design process.

For the profession, the challenge now is learning how to adapt while ensuring that technology continues to serve the core purpose of architecture: thoughtful design that improves the built environment.