Clear Line Ops / For architects

From a one-line brief to a plan, a 3D model and a priced bill of materials

Early-stage design eats days: a massing study, a rough plan, a cost check, then rework when the client changes the budget. Here is how to compress that to minutes.

1. Describe the building

Write what you would tell a colleague: "two storey house, 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, open kitchen, about 180 m2". The arch_design tool lays out rooms per storey, applies sensible circulation and returns a room schedule, rough energy and budget numbers and a build guide.

2. Take the files into your own tools

Each design exports DXF and SVG plans for AutoCAD, an STL model, a CSV bill of materials and IFC for Revit or ArchiCAD. Nothing is locked in a viewer.

3. Walk through it and change it live

The result page opens a first-person studio. Remove or move walls, repaint rooms, swap finishes from a shop catalogue, and watch the cost update. Material prices follow market data, so the number reflects today, not last year's estimate.

4. Design to a budget

Give a budget and the tool sizes the building to fit it. Useful in the first client meeting, when the real question is what the money buys.

5. Screen it before the engineer sees it

arch_review checks beams, columns, daylight, egress, fire, energy and lateral loads, and returns prioritised findings with fixes. It is a screening aid and does not replace a structural engineer or the building authority.

Open the engineering workbench or start a free trial for the full studio, IFC export and budget mode.