LAD Engine — Language-Aided Design

Route: /lad
Purpose: Design in natural language — describe spaces and constraints, receive layout proposals, commit to graph

6.1 What is LAD?

LAD (Language-Aided Design) replaces CAD-based space planning. Instead of drawing rooms manually, you describe your design intent in plain English and the AI generates multiple layout proposals as "ghosts" (visual overlays) in the viewport.

6.2 The Design Loop

Describe intent → AI proposes 3 ghost layouts → Review metrics → Commit best → Repeat

6.3 Opening the Command Bar

Press ⌘K (Mac) or Ctrl+K (Windows/Linux) to open the LAD command bar.

6.4 Writing Design Instructions

Basic example:

"3-bed apartment, south-facing living room, open kitchen, 2 bathrooms, total 95sqm"

With constraints:

"All bedrooms on the north side (quiet), living and kitchen south-facing for solar gain, no bedroom adjacent to lift core, double-height entrance hall"

For commercial:

"Open-plan office 600sqm, perimeter cellular offices for 12 partners, central collaboration zone, 2 meeting rooms min 20 sqm each, breakout kitchen, accessible WCs"

For refurbishment:

"Existing layout is Victorian terrace, we're adding a rear extension 5m × 8m ground floor. Connect new kitchen-diner to existing living room via structural opening, maintain structural spine wall"

6.5 Reviewing Ghost Layouts

After submitting a command, up to 3 ghost layouts appear in the viewport:

• Ghost 1 — optimised for natural light and solar
• Ghost 2 — optimised for compactness / area efficiency
• Ghost 3 — optimised for circulation / wayfinding

The right panel shows metrics for each: area efficiency, daylight factor estimate, room adjacency score.

6.6 Committing a Layout

1. Click on the ghost you want to keep in the right panel
2. Click Commit to Graph
3. The layout is written to your Purple8 Graph as room nodes and wall edges
4. The ghost clears and the canvas updates with your committed rooms
5. You can now run algorithms on the committed layout

6.7 Level of Detail (LOD)

The LOD slider controls visual and data detail:

LOD	Meaning	Use Case
100	Massing	Site analysis, bulk envelope
200	Spatial	Room layout, adjacency planning
300	Assembly	Partitions, structural grid
400	Element	Full detail, joinery, fixtures
500	As-Built	Post-construction record

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