While many architects and interior designers are curious about ChatGPT, they're far from using it to its full potential.
Maybe you’ve asked it to write a quick email or generate some ideas. Cool. But that’s barely scratching the surface.
ChatGPT can help you develop early-stage concepts, automate documentation, troubleshoot software issues, streamline operations, research structural systems and sustainable strategies, and much more.
In short, if you haven't integrated it into your architecture workflow yet, you’re working harder than you need to.
But don't worry. In this actionable guide, I’ll show you how to make ChatGPT your ultra-intelligent assistant that saves you hours a day and lets you focus on what actually matters: design.
Concept design is where architectural intelligence meets intuition. But even experienced designers can get stuck or waste hours chasing ideas that don’t go anywhere.
ChatGPT can generate diverse concept directions fast, letting you test spatial narratives, material palettes, and typological moves early in the process. You can think of it as a concept generation assistant that can think across cultures, typologies, and eras in seconds.
Example prompts:
“Generate 3 distinct architectural concepts for a single-family passive house in Northern Europe. Each concept should include a name, core spatial idea, massing strategy, and a palette inspired by local materials. Respond in bullet format.”
“Act as a senior interior architect. Based on the attached client brief (upload the document), propose 5 early-stage moodboard directions for a boutique hotel in Marrakech that merges Berber tradition with modern brutalism. Include spatial metaphors, material keywords, and atmospheric cues for each. Be as detailed as possible.”
Whenever relevant, upload supporting documents to give ChatGPT more context and better guide its responses. Any format will do - PDFs, Word documents, screenshots, or even meeting notes.
Pro tip: Tell ChatGPT to "act as a..." or "image you're a..." to provide higher-quality, more niche-specific results.
While ChatGPT isn't as good at visualizing architectural designs as specialized AI rendering tools, it can be invaluable at writing prompts for AI image generators like Midjourney.
Provide all the context, such as design intent, style, and functional constraints, and ChatGPT will create some high-performing prompt ideas you can feed into Midjourney to generate beautiful concepts in seconds.
Example prompts:
“You're a world-class prompt engineer. Create a Midjourney prompt for a Scandinavian-style kitchen interior concept. It should have natural daylight, matte textures, stone countertops, ash wood cabinets, and minimal color grading.”
“Write a detailed Midjourney prompt for a living room concept with curved furniture, deep green velvet upholstery, travertine coffee table, floor-to-ceiling curtains, and soft golden-hour lighting.”
If you'd like to learn more about this topic, I recommend reading our Midjourney prompting guide for architects and interior designers.
Pro tip: Use specialized AI architectural renderers like MyArchitectAI or Veras to visualize your CAD designs and sketches in seconds. No 3D skills or installs required.
Documentation is where creativity goes to die... unless you automate the repetitive parts.
That's what ChatGPT thrives at.
Feed it your raw schedules, product lists, or room data, and it will give you polished, client-ready specs, rationales, and spreadsheets with no manual work.
Example prompts:
“Here is a furniture schedule (paste or upload data). Reformat it as a markdown table with item, dimensions, supplier, cost, and notes for installation. Then generate a summary paragraph for inclusion in a client report.”
“Based on this materials list (paste or upload a document), write a formal design rationale for a high-end wellness spa focused on biophilic design principles. Use professional tone and reference relevant sensory experiences.”
In the past, if you were stuck with 3D modeling or rendering software, the solution used to be digging through forums and help docs, looking for solutions.
Not anymore. With ChatGPT, all you need to do is describe the problem, and it will walk you through the solution step by step. Whether you're using SketchUp, Archicad, Revit, or V-Ray, ChatGPT knows them all.
Example prompts:
"You're a SketchUp expert. My SketchUp file has grown to over 400MB and is lagging. Walk me through how to clean up unused components, reduce geometry, and optimize textures without breaking scenes or tags."
“What’s the best workflow for exporting massing from SketchUp to Revit while keeping geometry clean and avoiding triangulation issues? Include plugin suggestions if needed.”
You can be a design genius and still freeze up when writing a simple client update email.
ChatGPT will help you put together updates, proposals, and even those awkward follow-ups using exactly the tone you want.
Example prompts:
"Write a concise email update to a client summarizing today’s site visit based on the attached notes. Rewrite it in a clear, confident, and professional tone while keeping it polite and reassuring.”
“Act as a senior interior designer. Based on the following descriptions and images from a client’s Pinterest board, identify common themes in style, materials, colors, and spatial preferences. Summarize their dominant aesthetic and recommend 3 design directions that align with it.”
Pro tip: Give ChatGPT a few samples of your writing, and instruct it to match your style in its response. To avoid re-uploading every time, create a project (available with Plus subscription) and save your samples there for future use.
Writing blog articles and social media content probably isn’t your favorite part of the job, but it does bring in new clients.
The good news? ChatGPT makes it way faster and easier.
Example prompts:
“Here are 3 photos from our latest Scandinavian-style kitchen renovation (upload them). Write Instagram captions for each using an aspirational tone, avoiding cliches. Include a short engaging hook, one design detail to highlight, 3 relevant hashtags, and a short call to action directing to our bio link.”
"You're an expert thumbnail designer. Create an eye-catching YouTube short thumbnail based on the uploaded image and reference design. Use the text 'The Tropical Villa of The Future' as the headline."
“You're a world-class SEO content writer with interior design experience, helping me write an article about industrial loft interior ideas. The piece is aimed at US citizens looking for inspiration and interior services. Create an article outline, structure it with H2s and H3s, include a meta title and description, and a list of LSI keywords and relevant entities. Use a friendly, conversational, but knowledgeable tone.”
Operations can kill your momentum. Use ChatGPT to standardize repetitive workflows, write internal SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures), and even help manage your project management system.
Think of it as your operations assistant—without the hefty salary.
Example prompts:
“Act as an expert chief operations officer with 20+ years of experience. Help me optimize our standard operating procedures for handing off a completed interior design project to the client, including documentation handover, contractor feedback, and a post-project survey. Be as detailed as possible. Suggest non-obvious, contrarian ideas.”
“Here’s a transcript from a team meeting (upload the file). Summarize the key takeaways and turn them into a to-do list grouped by team member.”
Prompting AI chatbots (like ChatGPT) is a skill in itself. The tips below will help you make the most of every interaction.
ChatGPT thrives on context. The more details you give it - what to include in the response, what to leave out, and any constraints - the more useful the output.
Treat it like a junior designer: clear directions mean better work.
Instead of rewriting some instructions every conversation, just save them once using ChatGPT's "custom instructions" feature.
Go to the "Customize ChatGPT" settings in the top right corner of the page and provide details on your and your firm's background, and how you want it to respond, so every reply is tailored to you.
Here are some examples I use:
Projects (available on Plus and Enterprise plans) let you organize your chats and keep context consistent across every conversation within that project.
For architects and designers, this is a game-changer. You can upload key documents—like intake forms, design briefs, site analysis reports, meeting notes, material specs, and more. ChatGPT will automatically use these files as context in every new chat within that project—no need to repeat yourself.
You can even train it to write in your voice. Just upload writing samples (like past emails or proposals), then say something like:
“Use the attached writing samples (filename.pdf and filename2.pdf) to match my tone and communication style.”
Heads up: Projects don’t use your general custom instructions. You’ll need to set specific instructions for each project.
ChatGPT gets a lot right—but not everything. You’ll see a reminder under every response for a reason: verify anything important before acting on it, especially when it comes to high-stakes decisions.
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ChatGPT is like having a versatile assistant for free (or $20/month if you choose the Plus subscription) that makes you more efficient and creative.
From early-stage concepting to software troubleshooting, client communication, and creating marketing content, it helps you move faster without cutting corners.
The key? Use it like a pro: give it proper context, train it on your voice, stack your prompts, and provide relevant documentation.
I hope this quick guide was helpful. Now go on and try it yourself!
While ChatGPT can generate basic floor plans, section cuts, and massing diagrams, it doesn't give you enough control over the output for the result to be useful.
Just as with diagrams, ChatGPT doesn't have the necessary settings to produce house plans, elevations, or layouts that make any technical sense. Specialized AI architecture generators are a better fit for this use case.
ChatGPT (and AI in general) won't replace architects anytime soon. But architects using AI will replace those who don't. The smart move isn’t to resist it - it’s to treat AI as an upgrade to your workflow, not a threat to your role.
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