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Use AI at a small architecture firm for client emails, project descriptions, contract review and first-pass renderings, then edit what it gives you
Scott Burroughs, architect at This Land Studio in Asheville, North Carolina, in Mountain Xpress
He and other local architects use AI to help write emails and project descriptions, review contracts and other large documents, and research unfamiliar building-code questions. He uses AI rendering tools for architectural renderings, which now come back almost instantly. The specific tools aren't named.
Easy · or we set it up for $197
General AI chat assistant (not named), AI rendering tools (not named)
The problem
Writing emails and project descriptions, reading long contracts and documents, and researching unfamiliar building-code questions take hours that clients pay for. Renderings used to mean hiring watercolor artists, then computer renderers, then overseas firms working overnight.
What happened
He estimates AI rendering tools produce exactly what he wants about 70% of the time. On code research he says AI is "great at pointing you in the direction" but "not great at actually answering your question", so answers still get checked. He expects architects to become an "editor rather than producer". No time or cost figures given.
Quoted in the source: Scott Burroughs, architect, This Land Studio. Source: Mountain Xpress: As AI gains ground among WNC businesses, questions about jobs remain (2026-11-06) · Added 2026-11-08.
How to set it up yourself
- Pick the writing you do every week: client update emails and project descriptions for your website or proposals. Draft them with an AI chat assistant from your own bullet notes, then edit.
- For a long contract or document, paste it in and ask for a plain-English summary plus a list of clauses to read closely yourself. Paste the prompt below.
- For code questions, use AI to find which section of the code applies, then read that section yourself. Don't take the AI's answer as the answer.
- Try an AI rendering tool on one early-stage concept and compare it with what you'd have sent out for. Keep it for early concepts if it's right most of the time.
Copy-paste prompt
I'm an architect. Here is a contract from {CLIENT OR CONSULTANT}. Summarize it in plain English in 10 bullet points: scope, fees and payment timing, schedule, changes and extra services, who owns the drawings, insurance, termination, and anything unusual. Then list the 5 clauses I should read closely myself and why. Don't give legal advice; flag anything I should ask a lawyer about. Contract: {PASTE CONTRACT}We set up one AI automation in your tools, live within 48 hours of getting access, for $197. No call needed. Founding price for our first 10 customers (regular $297).
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See the $197 Quick-WinNeed more than one automation or ongoing care? Bigger setups: $149/mo with setup included (6-month minimum), or $497 pay-once. Satisfaction guarantee: we'll fix it until it works. Pay-once setups: or we refund your setup fee. $149/mo plan: cancel in the first 30 days and we refund your first month. We reply within 1 business day.
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