How Durham’s next 27-story skyscraper is being built using artificial intelligence
Once a week, two Samet construction workers strap 360-degree cameras to their hard hats and begin the slow march through every floor of The Novus, a glassy 27-story skyscraper under construction in Durham’s Five Points district.
Starting at the top and working their way down, they take photos of every nook and cranny that are automatically uploaded to an artificial intelligence (AI) platform called Buildots. Analyzing the real-time data, it generates “true-to-life” weekly progress reports and a “punch-list” of activities — all without lifting a finger.
“Instead of having multiple people out there, walking and checking, one [or two] workers can do it,” said Clayton Simmons, Samet’s senior project manager who is based on the site. “We’re saving time and money.”
The platform also uses predictive analytics to forecast potential delays, he said.
“If you’re supposed to have a door in a wall and, say, the door isn’t there, it’ll flag it,” he said. “We’re able to catch things early.”
It’s the first time that Samet has leveraged this type of machine learning at one of its job sites. But it’s quickly reshaping how its projects are getting planned, executed and managed, Simmons said. A year into its trial run, “we’ve already started to partner with Buildots for other projects.”
The rise of AI in construction
In recent years, AI has seen an explosion in development and adoption across industries, construction included. According to Construction Today, citing the Boston Consulting Group, up to 30% of construction work will be automated by 2025. This includes tasks like bricklaying, concrete pouring, and more complex jobs like structural inspections using drones and robots.
In March 2022, work began at The Novus at 400 W. Main St. The site backs up against the Downtown Loop in one of the city’s most bustling commercial corridors.
The project’s developer, Durham-based Austin Lawrence Partners (ALP), has partnered with New York City-based real estate investors Global Holdings Management Group to finance the project.
Plans call for 54 luxury condominiums, 188 rental units and 22,000 square feet of ground-floor retail. It replaces the South Bank building that stood on the site for nearly 50 years before being demolished in 2022.
(ALP developed the Unscripted Hotel Durham, the former Jack Tar Motel, as well as One City Center, its first residential high rise in downtown Durham.)
In 2023, the partners hired Buildots to help manage the project. Founded in 2018 and headquartered in Tel Aviv, the startup uses AI and computer vision to automate on-site progress tracking. According to its website, its platform reduces delays “by up to 50%.”
“It’s an honor to be a part of this landmark project as we continue to expand our presence across the country,” said Buildots co-founder and CEO Roy Danon in a release.
But alongside AI’s rise and the capability to automate tasks currently performed by humans, concerns have mounted over the potential for job losses. According to a McKinsey & Company study, 45 million people — or around a quarter of the workforce — will lose their job to automation by 2030.
Chris Hargrove, construction manager at Global Holdings Management Group, currently works on the Novus site. He says he’s a fan of emerging startups like Buildots and AI’s use in the industry. “There’s nothing negative about it,” he said. “It’s an effective program and management tool, and the cost is small compared to the project.”
He’s also not worried about the risk to displace humans in some jobs. “It doesn’t take jobs away. What it does is reallocates and shifts jobs. This is just the start.”
On the market
The Novus is expected to open in early 2025.
Already, 41 of the 54 available condos have been sold, the firm said.
Online listings show many units still available with prices starting at $919,900. The priciest is listed at over $4.3 million. Amenities will include putting greens and golf simulators, spaces to work remotely, a pickleball court, an outdoor movie theater and a dog park, plus pools, hot tubs and steam rooms.
Two retail tenants have been announced for the mixed-use skyscraper. They include Revel, a locally owned cycling studio, and the Pilates studio Solidcore.
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This story was originally published December 27, 2024 at 5:30 AM.
