ARQ
Drawing software for architects
- Status
- Pre-release
- Year
- 2026
- Disciplines
- ArchitectureSystems
01 · Brief
Architects think in walls, doors and rooms, but most drawing software only knows lines, and the alternatives are heavy and slow. ARQ lets you draft as quickly as you always have, while every wall knows it’s a wall. The drawings you already have open just as they are.
- and DXF drawings open as they are, from AutoCAD 2000 to 2018
- DWG
- model behind every view: change a wall once and every drawing follows
- 1
- places it runs: the browser, Mac, Windows and Linux
- 4
02
Drafting, the way architects already work
Type L for a line or C for a circle, give a length, and it’s drawn. Everything sits where an architect’s hands expect it, so years of CAD habits carry straight over on the first day.
- 01The keyboard shortcuts you already know
- 02Lines that snap to the right point, at the length you type
- 03Print to scale, on paper or as a PDF
03
One model behind every view
In ARQ the walls, doors, rooms and floors are the real thing, and the plan, the 3D view and the printed sheets are all ways of looking at them. Change a wall once and every drawing follows. It works the same in the browser and as an app on Mac, Windows and Linux.
04
An agent at the next desk
When you want a hand, an AI assistant can work in the same drawing while you watch, one step at a time, and you can undo any of them.
05
The hard parts and how they were solved
Exact on every platform
ProblemA computer’s maths gives very slightly different answers in the browser and on the desktop, and a drawing that differs by a hair between two machines is a corrupt drawing.
SolutionYou draw in millimetres, but the file is stored in whole micrometres, rounded in exactly one place. Two machines that open the same file agree exactly, every time.
A solver that says what’s wrong
ProblemPin a drawing down with too many rules (this parallel, that length, these equal) and most CAD tools just fail, or quietly move something you didn’t touch.
SolutionARQ tells you how much is still free to move, names the exact rules that disagree, and changes nothing until you’ve settled them.
The files architects already have
ProblemPractices run on DWG and DXF drawings, often decades old, and a tool that can’t open them never gets tried.
SolutionARQ opens and saves DXF itself, and DWG from AutoCAD 2000 to 2018, and a damaged file is turned away safely instead of taking the app down with it.
Under the hood
How it’s made
The technical side, part by part, for anyone curious about the engineering.
| S-01 | Core | Rust, compiled natively and to WebAssembly, checked for parity with the TypeScript side |
|---|---|---|
| S-02 | Desktop | A native drafting app with a command line, snaps and polar tracking; packages for Mac, Windows and Linux |
| S-03 | Browser | React and TypeScript across 32 packages; projects stored locally, in SQLite or the browser’s private file system |
| S-04 | Decisions | 33 architecture decision records |
| S-05 | Proof | Over 4,000 TypeScript tests and about 1,800 Rust tests |
Made withTypeScriptRustWebAssemblywgpu
Status
Not out yet, and being tested in private. Pictures once it’s ready.
ARQ isn’t public yet. Ask me for a walkthrough.
hello@rudraknows.com