Mastering Giraffe for Architects

This series walks you through the complete architect workflow in Giraffe — from getting oriented on a new site all the way through to presenting options to a client. Each video covers a distinct stage of the process, and they're designed to be watched in order.

By the end, you'll be able to run a full feasibility workflow in Giraffe: analysing a site, building a brief, generating design options, running analytics, and putting together a polished presentation.

Start here. This video covers the core concepts and interface — what Giraffe is, how it's structured, and how to navigate your way around. If you're new to the platform, this is the foundation everything else builds on.

Before you design anything, you need to understand the site. This video shows you how to use Giraffe to analyse context — pulling in data layers, reading planning controls, and understanding what the site can actually hold. The goal is to walk away with a clear picture of constraints and opportunities before a single line is drawn.

With the site understood, this video covers how to translate that analysis into a working brief inside Giraffe. You'll set your assumptions — heights, setbacks, program mix — and establish the parameters that will drive your design options. Getting this stage right saves significant time downstream.

This is where the design work happens. The video walks through how to generate and compare multiple massing options within your brief parameters — quickly enough to explore real alternatives, not just variations on one idea. You'll see how Giraffe updates yield and compliance metrics in real time as you design.

Once you have design options, this video shows you how to interrogate them. Giraffe's analytics tools let you compare scenarios against each other and against your brief targets — areas, ratios, solar access, and more. This is the stage where you build the evidence base for a recommendation.

The final video covers how to communicate your work. Giraffe has built-in presentation tools that let you put together a clear, visual output — suitable for a client meeting or a concept review — without leaving the platform.