Building the robotics required to automate construction is likely trillions of dollars of capital investment. In the meantime, closer to earth is an opportunity to understand the nature of drawings, how to make them better, and cleaner, so that we humans might communicate to one another more cleanly. My personal design philosophy centered around automation is: generate using a system, then edit using a system that can regenerate a completely different object from base underlying data. Essentially, the app needs to learn from the user in realtime preferences and choices. This only happens with an app intelligent enough to learn. This doesn’t mean LLMs for AEC, in my mind, it simply means structured geometry and structured parameters linked together.
The task is tall, but the reward a delight: design democratization to all that want it, and a tool so powerful only 1% of its users will ever completely leverage 100% of it (looking to you Revit or OpenAI). Here is my starting shopping list…
Plans are the things that are diagrammatic representations of a finished built product. Plans come in five major flavors:
- Civil Engineering
- Architectural Design
- Structural Engineering
- Mechanical Engineering
- Electrical Engineering
Starting with the dirt and working our way up….
Civil Engineering
- Existing Conditions Plan – shows all the buildings, important roads, and specifies the phase of construction’s location
- Demolition Plan – if demo is necessary, this plan will indicate where to raze building
- Grading Plan – where is all the dirt gonna move, and how is the water going to leave
- Traffic Plan – where are vehicles coming from, where will they wait in a stacker, and how will they exit
- Utility Plan – locate the water supply, waste water, electricity, and active drainage measures
- Sewer Plan – locate the manholes and water discharge system
Architectural Design
- Site Plan – locate and scale the building to be built correctly on site, along with how sidewalks or parking facilities interact with the building
- Floor Plan – describe the dimensions of interior rooms, their doors, walls, and windows, casework and additional built-in furniture
- Roof Plan – dimensions of the roof, its skylights, slopes, and drainage directions
- Reflected Ceiling Plan – interior lighting and hvac equipment placement coordination
- Finish Plan – locate, dimension, and scale the different materials used on floors
Structural Engineering
- Foundation Plan – locate the piers, grade beams and extent of poured slabs
- Framing Plan – column/ beam/ girder sizing and locating
- Roof Framing Plan – Like the framing plan but for the roof, often filled with prefabricated systems for roof framing (commercial buildings)
Mechanical Engineering
- Mechanical Plan – Elevators and escalators
- HVAC Plan – Locate and size ducting for air conditioning
Electrical Engineering
- Electrical Plan – Locate and size transformers, switchgears, and sub-metering closets