Recently, U.S. technology company Snaptrude has made a major update to its software, enabling faster and more efficient early concept development.

Snaptrude's cloud-based collaborative 3D building design tool has welcomed its third major upgrade, introducing four primary modes: Program, Design, Present, and BIM. Snaptrude 3.0 aims to consolidate all digital tools architects need for project development into one platform, with each mode specifically designed and interoperable, ensuring teams' data, drawings, and charts remain interconnected, updated in real time.

These four modes allow architects to quickly and effectively transform ideas and concepts into usable digital models. The Program mode replaces disconnected spreadsheets with live-linked tables synced to the model; the Design mode includes modeling tools for shaping project ideas; the Present mode functions like a collaborative whiteboard for showcasing ideas and creating client-ready presentations; Snaptrude describes its software as an "all-in-one design ecosystem for early-stage architecture," where designers can progress from program briefs to 2D and 3D models, design documentation, and final presentations all within the platform.

The company explains that by rethinking architects' workflows, the software aims to eliminate barriers between concepts and construction, reducing time and management tasks. Specifically, through the integration of building information modeling (BIM) and artificial intelligence, Snaptrude's latest version simplifies the design development process, particularly in the early stages. This means architects no longer need separate BIM platforms when processing concepts into usable, feasible models.

Snaptrude 3.0's AI Program mode allows users to input simple prompts to create design-ready programs within the software's live-linked tables environment. For example, entering a prompt like "mid-rise office building in downtown Chicago" generates a plan including room types, sizes, and supporting projects. This update includes multiple AI features, such as AI programming, AI-driven adjacency packing, and AI rendering.

Snaptrude focused the development of this software update on the early design process because the company believes pressures in this area are increasing. Snaptrude states that global architecture firms face demands to complete designs faster and at lower costs, especially in the early project stages. The company's software aims to address this by accelerating workflows, unifying and coordinating the entire architecture firm's processes in the most critical phase of building design.

Snaptrude was founded seven years ago by engineer Altaf Ganihar to help architects design more efficiently. The company's goal is to encourage successful collaboration among design teams, ensuring their tools and data are efficient. Founder Ganihar said: "Seven years ago, we founded Snaptrude on a simple belief: architects should have tools that evolve with their ideas. From an initial browser-based sketching prototype, through patience and relentless effort, it has now evolved into a full-stack platform used in projects around the world."