ATLANTA--(FAST COMPANY) – On an unremarkable vacant lot in Atlanta’s West End, a proposed rowhouse construction project could soon become a milestone of modern design. The building itself is not particularly special; its 17 units have attractive geometrical facades, large picture windows, and will be affordably priced. More notable than the design of the project itself is how it was designed.  

To an uncommon degree, artificial intelligence was used extensively throughout the design process, from market analysis and conceptual design to regulatory compliance and material selection. The building, which is going up for zoning approvals this week, could be one of the first projects designed largely through AI to actually get constructed.

The project was designed—or, perhaps more accurately, codesigned—by Cove Architecture, an arm of the technology services firm Cove, which offers AI consulting to architects and designers. Founded by two trained architects, Cove uses AI to optimize project planning, design, engineering, and bidding for architecture and developer clients around the world. Through Cove Architecture, the company is now using the AI tools it’s been building since 2017 to pursue AI-designed building projects in-house.

Cofounders Sandeep Ahuja and Patrick Chopson say AI was used to greatly accelerate the Atlanta project, achieving a 60% reduction in design timelines, early-stage cost estimates that hit 95% accuracy, and a 40% cut in design iteration expenses. “Instead of it taking six months, we’re doing it in a month,” Ahuja says. “Speed is the superpower.”