Projects — Project Lifecycle Tracker

Route: /journeyPurpose: The central record for every architectural project — from first brief to handover.

---

Overview

Projects is where you manage the full lifecycle of a design. Every project moves through up to 14 RIBA-aligned stages, and at each stage Purple8 captures the brief, design decisions, area schedules, scenario snapshots, AI chat runs, and algorithm results — all tied to an immutable audit trail.

The big difference from a folder structure or project management tool: the data here is live. When you run an algorithm on /algorithms or send a message in /chat, those results are automatically linked to the active project stage. Nothing gets lost in email or a shared drive.

---

Creating a project

1. Go to Projects in the sidebar
2. Click + New project
3. Fill in the intake form:

Field	Notes
Project name	Human-readable (e.g. Shoreditch Mixed-Use)
Project ID	Auto-generated from type + client + year (e.g. RES-SMITHCO-2026-001). Used as the key across all tools.
Type	RES, COM, HOS, MXD, etc.
Client name / company	Optional — pre-fills Project ID slug
Site address	Optional — enables GIS auto-population
Brief	One paragraph is enough to start
Budget	Optional — tracked against cost estimates
Site area	Optional — used in area schedule calculations

4. Click Create — the project enters Stage 1: Ideation

---

The 14-stage lifecycle

Purple8 maps to the RIBA Plan of Work with 14 granular, trackable stages:

#	Stage	What happens
1	Ideation	Client brief captured; project conceived
2	Feasibility	Site analysis, massing studies, go/no-go
3	Concept Design	Schematic design; space programme locked
4	Design Development	Detailed design; structural and MEP integrated
5	Technical Design	Full technical packages; IFC models complete
6	Tender	Package sent to contractors; bids received
7	Procurement	Contractor appointed; supply chain confirmed
8	Construction Start	On-site mobilisation; groundbreaking
9	Construction Active	Ongoing works; RFI/change-order management
10	Construction Complete	Practical completion; snagging
11	Commissioning	Systems tested; sign-off
12	Handover	Keys to client; O&M packs delivered
13	Post Occupancy	1-year review; lessons-learned captured
14	Closure	Project archived; final account settled

---

What gets captured per stage

• Brief — the original client intent, locked at Stage 1 and never overwritten
• Area schedule — GEA, GIA, NLA derived from sketches and room inputs
• Scenario snapshots — up to 5 named snapshots of the design at any point (stored locally)
• AI chat runs — every Chat conversation with the Project ID set is logged here
• Lessons learned — free-text field to record what went well or badly while it's fresh
• Interactions — algorithm runs, DocIntel uploads, GIS analyses linked to this project

---

The Project ID

The Project ID (e.g. RES-SMITHCO-2026-001) is the key that connects all tools:

• Set it in the Chat page top-right input → AI responses are scoped to this project
• Set it on the Algorithms page → results are logged against this stage
• Upload a document in DocIntel with this ID → it appears in the project's document list

Keep it copied to your clipboard when working on a project.

---

Advancing a stage

Click Advance stage at the bottom of a project card. You'll be asked for a short note explaining the transition. This is written to the audit trail and cannot be undone — by design.

---

Scenario snapshots

Up to 5 snapshots per project can be saved at any time. A snapshot captures:

• Current stage name
• A custom label (e.g. "Option A — courtyard scheme")
• A note

Snapshots are stored locally in your browser. They're useful for branching design options — save a snapshot before committing to a direction, then you can come back and compare.

Traditional AEC workflows lose the provenance of decisions—you see the final CAD line, but lose the emails, meetings, and rationales that led to it. Using Purple8 Graph's JourneyEngine and LearningEngine, the Journey page resolves this by acting as an immutable, append-only orchestrator for the project lifecycle.

---

1. Complete Auditability (The Append-Only Ledger)

Purple8 AI Architect treats project progression as a compliance-grade audit trail, essential for standards like ISO 19650 and Golden Thread compliance.

• Immutable Transitions: The project journey is strictly append-only. You cannot erase the history of a stage transition.
• The "Four W's" Captured: Every time the project advances to a new phase, the graph records:
  • WHO: The authenticated user who instigated the change (via [:STAGE_ACTOR] edges tied to the User ID and Tenant).
  • WHAT: The exact stage transitioned into (e.g., from feasibility to concept_design).
  • WHEN: A precise cryptographic timestamp.
  • WHY: Mandatory transition notes explaining the rationale for advancing.
• Interaction Logging: The [:STAGE_INTERACTION] edges automatically record external events triggering inside that stage—such as generating a new layout via the LAD Engine or running a structural load algorithm.

---

2. What Information is Captured?

The Journey dashboard aggregates multiple streams of data to give Project Leads a complete "health check":

1. The Originating Brief: The initial client intent is preserved immutably at Stage 1.
2. Design Snapshots (Scenarios): You can save "Snapshots" of the BIM Viewport at any point. These capture the exact state of the graph's geometry so you can roll back or branch timelines.
3. AI Chat Telemetry: Records a log of complex AI Chat runs executed during a specific stage.
4. Algorithm Activity: Telemetry showing which Phase 8 Algorithms (e.g., Space Syntax, MEP clash detection) were run.
5. Lessons Learned: A dedicated input for the team to record friction points, cost overruns, or design wins directly into the Knowledge Graph while the project is active, not just at post-occupancy.

---

3. How and Where is this Information Used?

Data captured in the Journey isn't just for passive storage—it directly drives platform intelligence:

Driving the AI Context Window

The ArchitectPurple AI continuously polls the Journey's active stage to govern its responses.

• Stage 2 (Feasibility): If you ask "How should we frame the roof?", the AI will provide high-level massing and structural grid advice.
• Stage 6 (Technical Design): Asking the exact same question will yield specific steel tonnage, fire-rating regulations, and connection detailing.

The Learning Engine (Cross-Project Intelligence)

The LearningEngine constantly analyzes the Lessons Learned and Algorithm failures captured in the Journey.

• Usage: When you start a brand new project in the same tenant, the AI preemptively retrieves lessons from past projects with similar characteristics. If your last residential tower suffered delays due to lift core compliance in Stage 4, the AI will warn you about it in Stage 2 of the new project.

SLA & Milestone Enforcement

• Each stage in the Journey engine carries specific Service Level Agreement (SLA) deadlines.
• Usage: Project managers receive dashboard alerts and system warnings if a project is stagnating in "Concept Design" past its allocated timescale.

---

4. The 14-Stage Lifecycle

Purple8 Journey maps fluidly to standard industry plans (like the RIBA Plan of Work), breaking projects down into 14 granular, trackable stages:

1. Ideation: Client brief captured; project conceived.
2. Feasibility: Site analysis, massing studies, go/no-go.
3. Concept Design: Schematic design; space programme locked.
4. Design Development: Detailed design; structural & MEP integrated.
5. Technical Design: Full technical packages; IFC models complete.
6. Tender: Package sent to contractors; bids received.
7. Procurement: Contractor appointed; supply chain confirmed.
8. Construction Start: On-site mobilisation; groundbreaking.
9. Construction Active: Ongoing works; RFI/change-order management.
10. Construction Complete: Practical completion; snagging.
11. Commissioning: Systems tested; sign-off.
12. Handover: Keys to client; O&M packs delivered.
13. Post Occupancy: 1-year review; lessons-learned captured.
14. Closure: Project archived; final account settled.

---

5. Controlling the Journey

1. Creating a Project: Entering a brief instantly spins up a ProjectJourney node in the graph.
2. Adding Snapshots: Click the Snapshot button in the timeline to freeze the current graph state for branching design options.
3. Advancing Stages: When milestones are met, clicking "Advance Stage" triggers the audit logging mechanism, locks the previous stage, and updates the AI's contextual system prompt.