AI doesn’t design the project or sign the permit. It lightens what surrounds design: reading a zoning code, writing a project description or site meeting notes, comparing bids, showing the client a mood from the first sketch.
AI helps architects with tasks such as “List the zoning rules for a lot,” “Write the building permit project description,” and “Outline a trade’s specifications.” Start with a single task, in Gemini Notebook: allow 20 minutes the first time, and always review the result before you use it.
For each task: how it goes today, then with the tool. And the time it takes the first time.
Gemini Notebook · “Chat” panel
TodayBefore the first sketch, you have to read the whole code for the zone to know what can be built, where, and how high.
With Gemini NotebookA table of the zone’s rules, article by article, to check before you draw.
Claude · Word file, in the conversation
TodayThe project is drawn, but the description still has to be written, and each time you start from the last application’s, with its omissions.
With ClaudeA description in Word, faithful to your inputs, with the list of what still needs to be specified.
Claude · “Projects”
TodayEach specification is built by copying an old project file, and leftovers from the previous project end up in the contract.
With ClaudeA specification outline in the firm’s format, with the references to check and the interfaces between trades.
Also
Krea · “Realtime,” “Screen Record” mode
A few mood views that get the client reacting to the materials and the massing.
Gamma · “Paste”
A clear presentation of the sketch, where your plans take center stage.
Claude · Excel file, in the conversation
A line-by-line comparison table and the list of questions to ask each contractor.
Granola · Mobile app, then “Enhanced” tab
Meeting notes sorted by trade, with the actions, the people responsible, and the deadlines, ready to be reread.
Perplexity · “Research”
A list of requirements, each tied to its official text, and the points to have confirmed.
Gemini Notebook · One notebook per RFP
The list of documents to submit, the dates, the criteria, and the program summarized, each line with its page.
What to check
The written code isn’t enough: check the zoning map, the easements, the hazards, and the latest amendment to the code at the town hall. The tool can miss an exception: commit to a feasibility only after rereading each article.
List the zoning rules for a lotGemini Notebook · “Chat” panelThe prompt to copy
Using only the documents in this notebook, list the rules that apply to a lot of [area] m² located in zone [UB], for a [single-family house] project. Give in a table: permitted and prohibited uses; setbacks from streets and from side and rear lot lines; lot coverage; maximum height and how it is measured; required parking; green space and unpaved ground; exterior appearance, roofs, and fences. For each rule, cite the article and the page, and copy the exact sentence. Flag the rules that refer to another document I need to consult.
In Nova, “My path” starts from your level: one next step at a time.
The first moves, with free tools.
In your jobWrite the building permit project description
In your jobGo through a competition package
In your jobOutline a trade’s specifications
In your jobList the zoning rules for a lot
For a team: everyone moves forward in their own job. You see the team’s progress, never one person’s activity.
You upload the zoning code (PLU in France) or an RFP package, and it answers from those documents alone and shows the article each answer comes from.
Recommended planFree: 100 notebooks, 50 sources per notebook, 50 questions per day.
Write the permit project description or the outline of the technical specifications from your inputs, and compare contractors’ bids in a real Excel file.
Recommended planFree to try, with no client documents. For the firm: Team, $25 per user per month ($20 if billed yearly).
It takes the notes at the site meeting while you run it, even around a table, from your phone.
Recommended planBasic, $0. Notes older than 30 days are visible only with Business, $14 per user per month.
In “Realtime,” a mood image builds live from your massing model or your sketch: useful for getting the client to react from the first sketch.
Recommended planFree, $0: 100 compute units per day. Then: Pro, $35 per month, or $21 per month billed yearly.
Get up to speed on a technical or administrative rule, with the link to each official text to open and check.
Recommended planFree to start: 3 “Pro” searches per day, 1 “Research” report per month. Pro, $20 per month (€22 on the French App Store).
You paste your notes, and it splits them into slides: presenting a sketch to the client no longer eats your evening.
Recommended planFree, $0, to try it: 400 credits that do not refill. Then: Plus, €8 per user per month, billed yearly (€96).
Prices taken from the vendors’ official pages, dated on each tool page. These subscriptions are not included in Nova. Brands are named to identify the tools. No affiliation.
Nova recommends 6 to start with: Gemini Notebook, Claude, Granola, Krea, Perplexity, and Gamma. All of them can be used for free to get started.
You upload the zoning code (PLU in France) or an RFP package, and it answers from those documents alone and shows the article each answer comes from. The plan to choose: Free: 100 notebooks, 50 sources per notebook, 50 questions per day.
With “List the zoning rules for a lot,” in Gemini Notebook (“Chat” panel). Allow 20 minutes the first time. A table of the zone’s rules, article by article, to check before you draw.
No. Nova is software, not an accredited training provider: it issues no diploma or certification. It costs €19 per month for one person, and €129 per month for a team of up to ten people.