Location

Orlando, FL

Speakers

Grant Saso, Gavin Myers, David Stephenson

The Living Facility: How Feedback Loops Between AI and Digital Twins Are Reshaping Recreation Design

A recreation facility is never really finished. From the moment it opens, it is a living system. Occupancy shifts by the hour, programs evolve by the season, tournaments restructure entire wings overnight. Unlike static commercial buildings, athletic and recreation facilities demand constant adaptation. Yet most design processes still treat them as fixed objects, optimized for opening day and left to drift. This session presents a different model: one built around a feedback loop. Artificial intelligence sharpens the questions we ask before design begins, helping teams understand usage patterns, anticipate programmatic conflicts, and pressure-test assumptions before a single wall is placed. Digital twins close the loop after opening, capturing what is actually happening inside the building and making that data legible for operators, planners, and future designers. Together, they transform recreation facilities from fixed products into adaptive systems.