Why we built Arkteka: clients kept bringing pictures nobody could build

Our founder has an architecture background and worked on residential design and construction. One situation kept repeating: homeowners came in with images of what they wanted – magazine photos, Pinterest pins, lately AI renders. The images were great. But you can't get a permit from them, and a builder can't price them.

Every project restarted from scratch: interviews, sketches, redraws, coordination.

That's the gap we're working on with Arkteka: from a photo or description to a coordinated set of drawings – floor plans, elevations, sections – that a builder or professional can actually work with.

What we learned so far:

1. AI made the gap bigger, not smaller. Anyone can make a dream-house render in seconds; turning it into drawings still takes weeks.

2. The hard part isn't generating – it's keeping every sheet consistent when the design changes.

3. Being upfront that licensed professionals still review drawings where required builds more trust than hiding it.

Public beta has been live since September. If you've been through a renovation or permit process, we'd love to hear what was hardest for you.

https://www.producthunt.com/products/ready-plans-arkteka

– Andrii, founder of Arkteka