Startup Profile
Archiplan

Introduce yourselves

Tell us in three sentences who you are

Archiplan is software that uses language AI to accurately generate the planning requirements for a building project from hundreds of building law texts ranging from state building regulations to parking space statutes. We sort this specific information into a smart catalogue so that architectural offices, specialist planners and large construction planning companies can save an enormous amount of time and avoid errors in the work process when developing a building design. The whole thing works in a matter of minutes with just a little input data and can be updated dynamically as soon as the building design changes.

How long has Archiplan been around?

The idea for Archiplan really took shape with the Open Idea Competition of AI Startup Rising in spring 2023.

How did the idea come about and what challenges had to be overcome?

When Davy started his career as an architect, he was confronted with the enormous number of legal requirements for planning a large building. And since even very experienced colleagues quickly lose track of things, the idea for Archiplan was born. The biggest challenge was to move from an intensive conceptualisation phase to implementation. Archiplan achieved this with the expansion of the team to include developers Thewind, Josh, Adrian and René.

How does Archiplan work and how does AI support this project?

For the first time, we have compiled a centralised collection of all original texts from the various building authorities. Our customers can access this so that the time-consuming internet search for the right texts for their building is no longer necessary. The collection is also the database for our system: Archiplan queries specific information about the building, automatically compiles the relevant document basis and extracts all the specific requirements for planning a building from the texts. This process works by combining imperative programming with a language AI that we have trained for our use case. The extracted text data is categorised in a project dashboard and can be updated at any time. There will also be integration with third-party applications for team and project organisation, as well as a chatbot that the user can query according to the generated planning requirements.

How can I imagine your product being used in the day-to-day work of an architect?

A building has to be planned according to a large number of standards and planning regulations. Examples include requirements for accessibility, escape route lengths or a certain number of parking spaces. A team of architects incorporates basic planning requirements into the building design at an early stage and analyses them in more detail with regard to the building application. To do this, they have to research the legal texts and guidelines relevant to their building on the websites of the various state and local authorities and work through them manually. Archiplan takes over, automates and accelerates this process. Thanks to the project overview in our programme, all specific requirements are fully represented and can be implemented as drawings in the CAD programme.

Let’s take a look into the future: where could the project be in five years’ time?

In five years, Archiplan will be established in all planning offices as a tool for the lower architectural service phases from preliminary design to planning permission.