PETALING JAYA (Aug 12): KSK Land, the property division of KSK Group Bhd, has announced that it will be the first company in Malaysia to utilise a software called Delve in its development processes.

Delve is created by a New York-based urban innovation company Sidewalk Labs. The software uses generative design and artificial intelligence (AI) to help developers create better neighbourhoods faster, with less risk.

KSK Land plans to use Delve to drive smart, sustainable developments through real-time, data-driven feasibility and massing studies.

KSK Group Bhd CEO and KSK Land managing director Joanne Kua said in a press conference today: “As a lifestyle and design property company, we constantly struggle with making thousands of decisions while juggling between dozens of variables that contribute to a homeowner’s quality of life.

“These decisions that are made early in the process, especially in the master planning stage, may lead to unforeseen impact later on or even spell the make or break of a project’s financial and marketing viability. With Delve, we will be able to discover the design option that delivers the most optimal and sustainable lifestyle outcomes for our customers.”

Delve uses machine learning and computational design that generates design options and quantitative analysis. Development teams will be able to proceed with better information in a shorter period, fewer redesigns and better returns.

According to the developer, the software will facilitate KSK Land’s own data driven AI pricing engine by KSK City Labs. Both tools will enable the company to customise pricing for each unit based on the personalisation of every individual unit. Some of the variables are sunlight exposure hours, a wellness-driven variable that differs from one unit to another, and shadow hours.

Kua opined that Delve is helpful for the shifting of consumer demands, and catering to their needs, in light of the Covid-19 outbreak. “There is more emphasis on physical and mental wellbeing in developments,” she noted, adding that the developer started adopting Delve about four months ago.

KSK Land project director Richard Soo said with Delve, the developer has received encouraging feedback from its stakeholders such as consultants, architects and quantity surveyors, sparking meaningful conversations among all parties, and enriching the way they work.

Sidewalk Labs co-head of Delve Okalo Ikhena said, “Delve helps achieve this through holistic, quantitative and transparent urban design. We are excited to see how much further KSK Land can drive the priority outcomes that matter to the communities they operate in through their use of Delve.”

Founded in 2013, KSK Land launched its maiden development, 8 Conlay in November 2015. Sitting on a 3.95-acre tract, the three-tower integrated project located in Kuala Lumpur’s golden triangle, features the five-star Kempinski Hotel, a four-storey retail lifestyle quarters and two towers of YOO8 serviced by Kempinski, curated exclusively by designer Steve Leung (Tower A) and Kelly Hoppen (Tower B).

Apart from 8 Conlay, Kua said that KSK Land is in the midst of planning a new integrated development with wellness and sustainability elements, although details are not firmed up yet.