The RSUA Digital Design and Innovation Committee met online on 22 January 2026.
The purpose of this committee is to to help architects in Northern Ireland utilise digital innovations and information management Standards more effectively to benefit clients.
AI Policy for Practices
The committee discussed various opportunities and risks associated with using AI and agreed to explore the potential of developing an AI policy for architecture practices.
Innovation Technologies for Carbon Assessment
A presentation on Innovation Technologies for Carbon Assessment will be delivered to the committee at the next meeting on 19 March 2026.
Innovation Funding
A paper outlining a number of innovation funding opportunities is in its final stages. The purpose of the paper is to provide guidance to members so that they can easily find out what funding is available to them.
CPD events
All RSUA members can still avail of the two Generative Design CPD events. These events were proposed and led by members of the RSUA Digital Design and Innovation Committee:
Generative Design in Practice: Generative design is an advanced, algorithm-driven process, sometimes enabled by AI, used to explore a wide array of design possibilities that meet predefined criteria set by designers or engineers. It is often applied to architecture and construction most often to promote sustainable, space-optimised designs. In this session, attendees gained an understanding of:
Crash Course in Generative Design This event was designed to be a crash course in generative design for members who may not be familiar with the tools available and who are interested in finding out how generative design software can play different roles through each RIBA stage.
Further engagement
You can read more about the RSUA Digital Design and Innovation Committee here.
If you would like to find out more about the work undertaken by this committee, please get in touch with the committee chair Peter Monaghan by emailing monaghanp@src.ac.uk
