The AI Drafting Table: A Conversation on the Future for Commercial Interior Designers
- Carl Brown
- Design Trends, General, Office fit out, Office Fitting
As commercial interior designers, at Select Interiors, our process begins not with a mouse click, but with the soft scratch of a pencil on paper. It begins with the weight of a fabric swatch in our hands, the way natural light falls across an empty room at 3 pm, and the tactile joy of building a mood board, a physical collage of texture, colour, and potential. We are, by both choice and passion, creators + makers. Our trade is in feeling a space, understanding its bones, and listening to the unspoken hopes of our clients. We don’t just design; we craft.
So, when the conversation turns to Artificial Intelligence, to algorithms generating endless layouts and virtual realities, our reaction is, understandably, a mixture of intrigue and hesitation. We’ve built our reputation as commercial interior designers in Manchester on a foundation of personal relationships and tangible, sensory design. The notion of entrusting any part of that to a machine can feel like the antithesis of everything we hold dear.
But we are also realists. This technology isn’t a fleeting trend; it’s poised to reshape our industry. The question we’re asking ourselves, and the conversation we want to open with you, is not if AI is coming, but how we, as devoted craftsmen, can engage with it. Will it be the death of a cherished craft, or could it, perhaps, become its most unexpected tool?
The Foundation of the Craft of Commercial Interior Designers: Why We Start with Pencil and Paper
To understand our perspective, you need to understand our process. For us, design is an intimately human experience.
- The First Sketch: That initial pencil sketch is where an idea is born. It’s fluid, imperfect, and full of soul. It’s a conversation between the hand and the mind, a way of thinking that feels irreplaceable.
- The Mood Board Ritual: We lay out samples of oak veneer next to brushed brass, we drape a soft fabric against a cool marble. This is how we feel a scheme coming together. The physicality is crucial, it tells a story that a screen can’t replicate.
- Being in the Space: We spend hours in empty buildings. We learn their quirks, their acoustics, how the sun moves through them. This empathy for a space is the bedrock of everything we do. Can an algorithm truly understand the ambience of an historic Manchester property?
This hands-on, sensory approach is what defines us as creators + makers. It’s what our clients choose us for. They don’t want a generic solution; they want a space infused with intention and character, a direct result of this careful, deliberate process. The rise of AI feels, at first glance, like the polar opposite of this philosophy.
The Allure of the Modern Twist: What is AI Actually Offering to Commercial Interior Designers?
Despite our roots, we are curious. We’re listening to the industry buzz and exploring what these new tools promise. The potential benefits for commercial interior designers are hard to ignore, even for traditionalists like us.
Generative Design: An Endless Assistant?
We understand the concept: input parameters like square footage, required rooms, budget, and compliance rules, and the AI generates thousands of layout options. For complex commercial projects, this could be a powerful way to explore configurations we might not have initially considered. It could handle the tedious parts of space planning, freeing us up to focus on the creative nuances. But is it generating truly innovative ideas, or just computationally efficient ones?
Hyper-Realistic Visualisation: Seeing Before Building
The ability to create photorealistic renders and virtual walkthroughs is undoubtedly impressive. For our clients, who often struggle to visualise a finished space from 2D drawings, this could be a game-changer in building confidence and alignment. The idea of a client “walking through” their new office before we break ground is powerful. But does it risk creating an expectation of perfection that the beautiful, imperfect real world can never match?
Data-Driven Decisions: Beyond a “Gut Feeling”
We design based on experience, taste, and a deep understanding of human interaction within a space. AI offers a data layer: analysis of customer flow in retail, studies on workplace productivity, or the environmental impact of materials. This information could make our designs more effective and sustainable. But can data ever truly measure a feeling? Can it quantify the warmth of a well-designed room?
The Heart of Our Hesitation: The Fear of the Same Four Walls
This is our central fear. As commercial interior designers who see our work as an art form, we worry that an over-reliance on AI could lead to the homogenisation of design. If everyone uses similar AI tools trained on the same datasets of what already exists, who is going to be bringing fresh ideas and trends to the table?
Are Commercial Interior Designers thinking outside the box if the box itself is the AI?
Our tagline is creators + makers for a reason. We don’t just assemble parts; we originate ideas. We are profoundly concerned that an over-reliance on AI will lead to a sea of sameness, the same neutral colour palettes, the same “optimised” layouts, the same materials churned out over and over because the algorithm deems them popular or efficient. True design leadership comes from those who can break away from the pattern, not those who can generate it fastest.
We fear AI could:
- Stifle Trends, Not Set Them: Trends are born from the avant-garde, from rebels and artists who push boundaries. An AI trained on the past and present cannot conceive the future. It can only remix what it already knows.
- Erode Unique Vision: The value of a firm like ours is our unique perspective, our specific ‘eye’. If the AI is making a thousand micro-decisions, is the final output truly ours, or is it a product of the software we subscribed to?
- Deskill the Designer: If the AI can generate plans, suggest colour palettes, and specify furniture, what is the role of the designer? We worry it could become a crutch, eroding the fundamental skills of spatial reasoning, sketching, and material knowledge that we’ve spent decades honing. The danger is that we become mere editors of AI-generated content, not the **creators + makers** we pride ourselves on being.
Moving Forward: A Craftsman’s Exploration
So, where does this leave us? Buried in the past? Certainly not.
We believe the future lies not in rejection, but in mindful exploration. We are starting a journey to understand this technology. We want to talk to our peers in the industry. What software are you using? How have you integrated it without compromising your creative voice? Have you found a balance?
Our philosophy is this: perhaps the highest form of craftsmanship is knowing which tool to use, and when.
Maybe the AI can be our modern-day apprentice, an incredibly fast and efficient one that handles the quantitative heavy lifting. It can generate the ten best technical floor plans, and then we, the craftspeople, can take those plans, lay the tracing paper over the top, and use our pencils to inject the magic. We can feel the samples on the board and say, “The algorithm suggested nylon carpet, but for this client’s wellness room, it has to be this natural wool.”
We see a future where AI handles the “what if” scenarios of structural pillars and sightlines, and we handle the “what if” of human emotion and experience. We will remain the creators; the AI, a potential tool for the making.
Join the Conversation
We are opening this conversation because we know we’re not alone. To our fellow designers, architects, and craftspeople: how are you navigating this? How do you ensure you remain the originator of fresh ideas? To our clients and partners: what are your thoughts? Does the idea of AI in your project excite you or concern you?
At Select Interiors, we will always start with a pencil. We will always need to feel the fabric. We will always believe in the irreplaceable value of a personal touch and our role as creators + makers. But we are also looking toward the future, curious and cautious, determined to ensure that whatever tools we adopt, they serve to enhance our craft, not replace it.
The goal remains the same: to create beautiful, functional, and profoundly human spaces for the people of Manchester to live, work, and thrive in. That, we believe, is a future worth designing for.
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