The inaugural Best Use of AI and Immersive Technology category offered a compelling, if incomplete, snapshot of how architects are engaging with artificial intelligence. Intentionally broad, judges were looking for entries that championed the "crazy, mad imaginative potential" of AI alongside those focused on overcoming real-world problems.

While AI’s undeniable ability to make processes faster and more efficient was evident across the submissions, judges were keen to look beyond mere speed. Rather they wanted to see evidence of how AI is pushing architects toward higher-level conceptual thinking and finding “exciting ways of using it that can benefit society.” The scarcity of such entries suggests that this journey has yet to begin in earnest.

At the same time, judges’ discussions acknowledged that there is a palpable anxiety regarding AI’s rise and adoption across the workplace.

The single biggest immediate and practical concern is data security. As one judge pointed out, using public platforms means everything created is "out there." For major practices handling sensitive project information, the liability of intellectual property (IP) leaving their system is immense.

 A red flag was also raised over the most frightening entries—those that demonstrated a reckless lack of human oversight, implying a design generated by AI could be sent straight through to construction. This highlighted the urgent need for ethical guardrails and professional responsibility.

Winner, Foster + Partners, with its "slick and well thought through" internal AI Portal was praised for directly addressing architecture’s biggest practical fears because the portal's primary value is its ability to securely leverage AI for tasks like cataloguing data using internal large language models (LLMs), while ensuring the practice's  IP and data never leave the firm’s protected system.

The Portal was also judged to have “technical depth,” by going beyond off-the-shelf tools so it can be integrated into the practice's workflow.

A special mention was given to Move 37, entered by cultural agency Futurecity. This immersive, AI-driven exhibition was highlighted as a potential signal for the future, that could encourage more artistic and experimental submissions.

Judges praised the use of "fine-tuning cutting-edge existing AI tools" being used in such a "thought-provoking way in order to explore profound themes, such as ecological collapse".

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WINNER
Foster + Partners

SPECIAL MENTION

Mat Collishaw and Futurecity

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