Introducing Atlas AI

The AEC expert that already knows your site.

Atlas AI is a free, specialist AI built for urban designers, architects, and planners. Unlike ChatGPT, it knows your site, remembers your project, and speaks fluent planning policy.

The problem

Generic AI doesn't know what a sequential test is.

The Generalist Problem

You ask ChatGPT about planning policy. It gives you a generic answer about "checking with local authorities." You already know that.

The Tool-Switching Problem

You switch between the planning portal, flood risk maps, Google, Excel, and Word — for every single project. None of them talk to each other.

The Memory Problem

Every conversation starts from zero. You re-explain your site, your pre-app feedback, your client's requirements — every single time.

Atlas AI solves all three.

It knows UK planning policy, it pulls live data from real sources, and it remembers everything about your project.

What makes it different

Built for AEC. Not adapted for it.

It already knows your site

Connect your Atlasly project and Atlas AI is instantly briefed — site area, planning zone, flood risk, PTAL score, local authority. You never have to describe your site again.

NPPF, London Plan, NDSS. Not a summary. The actual policy.

Ask about the presumption in favour, the sequential test, minimum unit sizes, parking maximums by PTAL, BRE daylight rules. Get the exact paragraph reference, not a vague overview.

It remembers what matters

Pre-app advice, client requirements, planning constraints, scheme parameters — pin them once and Atlas AI references them in every conversation, automatically.

Diagrams and calculations, not just words

Ask for a street cross-section and get one. Ask for a density calculation and get an interactive tool. Ask to compare three FAR scenarios and see them drawn.

Capability showcase

What Atlas AI can actually do

  • Policy Questions
  • Site Analysis
  • Calculations
  • Diagrams
  • Project Memory
  • Documents

When does the sequential test apply for flood risk, and what does it require?

The sequential test applies whenever development is proposed in flood risk areas — specifically Flood Zones 2 or 3, or land with a 1-in-100 or greater annual probability of flooding.

What the sequential test requires

Under NPPF Chapter 14 (paragraphs 167–172), applicants must demonstrate that:

• No reasonably available sites exist in areas of lower flood risk (Flood Zone 1 first, then FZ2)
• The development is appropriate to its flood risk zone given its vulnerability classification
• Where the site is in FZ3, the Exception Test must also be passed

The Exception Test (FZ3 only)

Two limbs must both be satisfied:

• The development provides wider sustainability benefits that outweigh flood risk
• The development will be safe for its lifetime without increasing flood risk elsewhere

Practical implications

• Sequential test evidence should be submitted with the planning application
• The search area is typically the Local Planning Authority boundary, unless there's clear justification for a narrower area
• Residential development is highly vulnerable — it cannot be located in FZ3b (functional floodplain) at all
• Pre-app advice on the sequential test approach is strongly recommended before committing to a site

The workflow

From site acquisition to planning submission. Atlas AI is there for all of it.

  1. Feasibility
    Instant site briefing from a postcode. Planning history, flood risk, PTAL, comparable schemes — in 60 seconds.

  2. Pre-Application
    Understand what the LPA will say before you book the pre-app meeting. What policies apply. What questions to ask. What to design for.

  3. Design Development
    Density targets, daylight checks, parking calculations, sustainability scoring — all in the chat, with your site's actual parameters.

  4. Planning Application
    Policy research, comparable consented schemes, and document drafting. Planning statements in minutes, not days.

  5. Condition Discharge
    Upload your decision notice. Atlas AI extracts every condition, categorizes them, and tracks what needs to be discharged before commencement.

What's under the hood

Built on the depth the industry runs on

  • 40+ AEC theorists & frameworks
  • 6 Sustainability certification systems
  • 35+ Quantitative standards
  • Live Planning data from real UK APIs

Who it's for

Built for every AEC professional

Urban Designer

From density studies to masterplan feasibility. Atlas AI knows your design standards — Gehl, NACTO, BRE — and applies them to your specific site.

Architect

RIBA stage checklists, planning policy interpretation, daylight analysis, BIM guidance. The expert colleague who never sleeps.

Town Planner

Appeal decisions, comparable schemes, local plan policy, viability sense-checks. Deep research in minutes, not days.

Architecture Student

Free, always. Learn planning policy as you design. Get feedback on your schemes against real standards. Build the knowledge that takes practitioners years to acquire.

Atlas AI is free. No credit card. No time limit. No watered-down trial.

Free users get full access to the AEC knowledge engine, live data tools, diagrams, and calculators. Project memory and advanced features unlock when you're ready.

FAQ

Questions

Is it really free?
Yes. The core Atlas AI chat — planning policy, live data, diagrams, calculators — is free for everyone. No credit card required.

How is it different from ChatGPT?
ChatGPT is a brilliant generalist. It will answer planning questions, but it doesn't know what site you're looking at, it can't look up real flood risk or planning history data, it has no memory of your project, and it has no idea what the local planning officer in your borough is likely to say. Atlas AI is specific to your project in a way a generic AI is structurally incapable of being.

What planning policy does it cover?
NPPF 2023, London Plan 2021, Use Classes Order 2020, NDSS, BRE daylight and sunlight guidelines, Manual for Streets, Secured by Design, Building for a Healthy Life, BREEAM, LEED-ND, WELL, Passivhaus, and more.

Does it work for UK planning only?
Currently optimized for UK planning — particularly England and the London Plan. We're expanding to Scotland, Wales, and international jurisdictions.

What live data does it access?
Planning application history (via DLUHC Planning Data API), flood risk zones (Environment Agency), nearby amenities and street data (OpenStreetMap), site elevation, and address context — all for any location in England.

Is my project data private?
Yes. Your project memory, conversations, and site data are private to your account and never used to train AI models or shared with other users.

Your next project starts here.

Ask about your site. Research the policy. Run the calculations. Draft the documents. All in one place. All for free.