The architecture industry is undergoing a profound transformation. As digital technology and artificial intelligence continue to evolve, the way we design, visualise, and deliver physical spaces is changing at an unprecedented pace.
Driving this momentum is a commitment to harnessing AI not as a replacement for creativity, but as a catalyst for it. It enables architects to streamline workflows, enhance sustainability outcomes and open new possibilities in design.
Gray Puksand’s Digital + Design Technology Manager, Páraic Walsh, was recently featured on 9 News to share how AI tools are transforming the way we work.
One of the advanced platforms adopted nationally across all Gray Puksand studios is Midjourney. This AI-driven visualisation tool translates architectural sketches, imagery and text into refined, highly detailed concept visuals.
This capability allows our designers to explore concepts and ideas with greater agility and depth, accelerating early-stage design while enriching the creative dialogue. Beyond visualisation, AI empowers our teams to make faster, data-informed decisions, driving better sustainability outcomes across our projects that enhance the end-user experience.
“Midjourney has fundamentally changed how we approach the early stages of design. It allows us to rapidly translate ideas into compelling visuals, which accelerates our processes and pushes our creativity in new and unexpected directions,” said Páraic.
“What once took days, or even weeks, of using traditional methods can now be achieved in a matter of hours, giving our teams more freedom to experiment and innovate.”
Across our four national studios, we utilise a carefully curated digital ecosystem to increase productivity, generate precise spatial and environmental data and streamline complex project coordination. This ensures that each project is delivered with both design integrity and technical excellence.
In addition to Midjourney, programs including SketchUp, Rhino, and Autodesk Forma are used during early-stage modelling and environmental analysis, while Revit and Dynamo support intelligent documentation and automated workflows through to project handover.
For project coordination, platforms such as Revizto and Autodesk Construction Cloud enable advanced clash detection and BIM collaboration, reducing risk and streamlining construction outcomes.
“The real value of AI lies in how it supports human insight,” he continued.
“It allows us to respond faster and work more collaboratively across teams and business functions. By creating stronger continuity throughout the entire design and delivery process, we’re able to ensure that our projects are technically robust, deeply considered and contextually relevant to end-users.”
In architectural practice, the real value of AI lies in empowering people, rather than displacing them. By automating repetitive tasks and enabling faster, more informed decision-making, AI allows architects and designers to focus on the parts of their work that demand creativity, critical thinking, and human insight.
“AI is becoming another part of the architect’s toolkit, not a replacement, but a support. It helps us work smarter and spend more time on the parts of the process that demand human thinking, which is paramount when delivering spaces that genuinely respond to people and place,” Páraic concluded.
