How would Gaudí design a hospital?
Antoni Gaudi
It’s not a question you hear every day, but it’s exactly the one we put to 120 employees of a leading international investment and financial services company at Hotel Camiral in Girona. Together with our technology partner, Padcelona, we designed a team-building experience that mixed architecture, imagination and some very clever tech.
Spoiler: nobody spent the morning on a spreadsheet
Step inside Gaudi’s World
We started with a shared virtual reality film that whisked the whole group straight into Gaudí’s Barcelona. Casa Batlló, the Sagrada Família and Park Güell all appeared around them, and for a few minutes a hotel conference room in Girona became the most colourful place on Earth.
Then came the surprise guest
Next, the main event: a live conversation with Antoni Gaudí himself.
Well, almost. Padcelona brought him back as an AI avatar, complete with his likeness and voice, and the teams could ask him questions in real time. How does he think about light? Where does he find inspiration in nature? Why on earth does everything curve? He had answers, and the room was hooked.
Fired up by their chat with the master, the 10 teams got to work on a very Gaudí-style brief: design a Modernist hospital.
Each person drew a different part of the building, so everyone had a job and nobody could hide behind the biscuits. Façades, therapeutic gardens, rooftops and ambulances all took shape on paper, and not one of them was a straight line.
One big, beautiful hospital
To finish, Padcelona’s AI-powered Drawing Wall gathered every individual sketch and merged them into a single Modernist hospital, projected on a big screen for everyone to see.
The room went quiet for a second, and then the cheering started.
The result was ten hospitals Gaudí never got round to designing, created by teams who, when they woke up that morning, had no idea they’d be chatting architecture with him before lunch.
One big, beautiful hospital
To finish, Padcelona’s AI-powered Drawing Wall gathered every individual sketch and merged them into a single Modernist hospital, projected on a big screen for everyone to see.
The room went quiet for a second, and then the cheering started.
The result was ten hospitals Gaudí never got round to designing, created by teams who, when they woke up that morning, had no idea they’d be chatting architecture with him before lunch.
Why it worked
- It was properly immersive. VR and a talking Gaudí gave everyone a shared “wow” from the first few minutes.
- Everyone contributed. Each person drew their own piece, so the final result belonged to all of them.
- The tech served the story. AI wasn’t a gimmick. It brought Gaudí to life and turned 120 drawings into one cohesive vision.
- It felt different. Nobody was handed a flipchart or asked to build a tower out of spaghetti.
Project details
- Client: International investment and financial services company
- Agency: Factor 3 Events
- Technology partner: Padcelona
- Venue: Hotel Camiral, Girona, Spain
- Participants: 120 people in 10 teams
Fancy something a bit different?
If you’re planning a team-building day that gets people talking (and creating) rather than just networking politely, we’d love to hear from you. Get in touch with the Factor 3 Events team and let’s dream up something unforgettable together.
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