I returned a couple of weeks ago from my second Church Facilities Expo (CFX), held this year in Birmingham, Alabama. It was great to see familiar faces from last year while also meeting new people and making new connections. With temperatures still in the 90s outside, the energy inside the conference was just as warm and exciting.
This year’s CFX felt different from my first experience. There were many familiar faces from last year, along with several new attendees, and there was a noticeably larger representation of contractors. It was encouraging to see the continued interest and investment in creating better spaces for churches and the communities they serve.
One of the things that stood out to me was the changing landscape of church attendance. While the number of people attending church has shown signs of recovery in recent years, another important trend is that people are changing churches rather than simply leaving them. According to Lifeway Research, approximately 4,000 churches closed in 2024, while roughly 3,800 new churches opened. At the same time, combined in-person and online attendance has recovered to approximately 97% of 2019 levels, with about 85% of attendees participating in person.
For architects and engineers, this presents both a challenge and an opportunity: How do we design spaces that encourage people to come back?
The experience a building provides plays an important role in that answer. Churches are not simply places where people gather; they are environments designed to create connection, community, and engagement. Every element of the building contributes to that experience.
Engineering is a critical part of that equation.
No one wants to sit in a space that is too hot or too cold. No one wants a structural column obstructing their view. Poor acoustics, inadequate ventilation, inefficient lighting, or poorly planned support spaces can all detract from an otherwise meaningful experience.
This is where TK Architects sees a natural connection between our experience in the entertainment industry and the needs of church facilities.
For more than 40 years, TK Architects has designed cinemas, family entertainment centers, and other entertainment venues where the experience of the guest is at the center of the design. Our engineering team understands the challenges that come with large gathering spaces, open floor plans, high occupancy, specialty equipment, commercial kitchens, support spaces, and the many systems required to make these environments function seamlessly.
Church facilities share many of these same characteristics.
They require spaces that can accommodate large groups of people while remaining comfortable, efficient, and functional. They often incorporate auditoriums, classrooms, children’s areas, gathering spaces, cafés or kitchens, offices, and other support areas—all of which need to work together as one cohesive facility.
Our experience designing entertainment environments has taught us that engineering should support the experience, not compete with it. When the systems are designed correctly, people may never notice them—and that is often the point.
A New Opportunity for TK Architects
CFX has given us an exciting opportunity to bring this experience into a new market. We are excited to expand our engineering services into church facility design and to apply the knowledge we have developed through decades of work in cinemas, family entertainment centers, and other large-scale entertainment environments.
While every church is unique, the fundamental goal is often the same: create a place where people want to gather, connect, and return.
We believe our experience can help make that happen.
We are excited about the conversations that started at CFX and look forward to continuing to build relationships within the church design community. Whether a church is looking for a full-service architectural and engineering team or an architectural firm needs an experienced engineering partner, TK Architects is excited to bring our entertainment-industry expertise to this market.
More importantly, we are excited about the opportunity to help create facilities that not only function well, but create an experience that supports their mission and brings people back through the doors.
New technologies are changing how guests interact with entertainment. Consumer expectations continue to evolve. Operators are adapting their business models, introducing new attractions, rethinking food and beverage, and finding new ways to bring people together.
The most resilient venues are designed with the understanding that the guest, the technology, the operator, and the market will continue to evolve.
At TK Architects, we believe future-proofing starts by building flexibility into the design from the beginning.
You can see in this Building footprint, several different combinations of amenities and configurations are possible.
Design for Change
Entertainment concepts can change quickly.
A space designed around today’s most popular attraction may need to accommodate something entirely different a few years from now. Technology that feels cutting-edge at opening can become outdated. A food and beverage concept may change with the market. An operator may discover that one part of the venue consistently outperforms another.
The most successful projects account for that possibility.
Future-proof design doesn’t mean creating generic spaces that could be used for anything. The goal is to create spaces that are highly effective for their intended purpose while maintaining enough flexibility to adapt when that purpose changes. That might mean planning rooms with multiple potential uses, creating adaptable partitions, providing accessible infrastructure, or considering how equipment and technology can be replaced without major reconstruction.
Flexibility is also about understanding the physical environment. Structural grids, equipment access, ceiling heights, mechanical systems, and circulation patterns can all influence how easily a space can change. A room may begin as an entertainment attraction and eventually become something completely different. A lounge might become an event space. An F&B concept might expand into an adjacent area. A new technology might require additional equipment or infrastructure.
Good design doesn’t need to know exactly which of these scenarios will happen. It simply needs to leave room for them to happen.
That is the difference between designing for certainty and designing for resilience.
Build the Infrastructure for Tomorrow
Some of the most important future-proofing decisions aren’t immediately visible to guests.
Power. Data. HVAC. Acoustics. Structural capacity. Equipment access. Technology pathways. These systems form the backbone of an entertainment destination, and planning for them early can make a significant difference in how easily a venue can evolve.
Technology requirements, in particular, can change dramatically over the life of a project. New displays, interactive experiences, gaming systems, projection technologies, lighting systems, and other digital components may require additional power, data, cooling, or equipment space. If those needs aren’t considered during initial design, accommodating them later can become expensive and disruptive.
It can allow an operator to upgrade technology without completely reworking walls and ceilings. It can provide pathways for future cabling and equipment. It can create access to systems that need regular maintenance or replacement. The same principle applies to the technical systems that support the guest experience.
Acoustics may need to separate increasingly diverse entertainment offerings. HVAC systems may need to support changing occupancy patterns and equipment loads. Electrical systems may need to accommodate new technologies and higher demands. Structural systems may need to support equipment that wasn’t part of the original program. These aren’t always the most visible elements of a project—but they can have some of the greatest long-term impact.
The goal isn’t to predict which technology will dominate the next decade. The goal is to make sure the building is ready when it arrives.
Plan for the Life of the Building
Every entertainment venue eventually reaches a point where it needs to evolve.
Sometimes that means a complete repositioning. More often, it means targeted improvements—a refreshed lobby, upgraded seating, a new F&B concept, technology upgrades, auditorium renovations, or the introduction of a new attraction. The best time to think about those future improvements is before the building is constructed.
Design teams can consider how future renovations might be phased, how construction can occur while portions of a venue remain operational, and how new systems can connect to existing infrastructure. This becomes particularly important for entertainment destinations where closing an entire facility may not be an option.
A renovation strategy can help owners make improvements incrementally, allowing a venue to continue generating revenue while portions of the property are updated. For an existing building, this same thinking can help determine whether a space should be renovated, repurposed, expanded, or reimagined entirely.
Future-proofing isn’t only about new construction. It’s also about giving existing destinations a path forward. And that path is influenced by more than the physical building. Operators continually evaluate guest behavior, revenue, staffing, maintenance, energy use, and the performance of individual spaces. Those insights can lead to changes that weren’t part of the original program.
A successful venue gives operators the ability to respond. That might mean reconfiguring a space to accommodate a stronger-performing attraction, expanding an F&B offering, adding new premium experiences, improving circulation, upgrading technology, or simply refreshing an area that no longer reflects the brand.
When the original design anticipates these possibilities, those changes can become opportunities rather than obstacles.
The Building as a Long-Term Investment
A future-proof entertainment venue isn’t necessarily the one with the most technology, the most attractions, or the biggest footprint.
It’s the one that gives its owner the most options.
Options to adapt.
Options to renovate.
Options to introduce new experiences.
Options to respond to changing guests.
Options to invest strategically rather than start over.
That requires looking at architecture and engineering as more than the process of delivering a building. They become part of the long-term business strategy.
At TK Architects, that perspective is built into how we approach entertainment design.
With experience across cinema, family entertainment, food and beverage, retail, and other entertainment environments, our teams understand that every project has different goals, operational requirements, and opportunities.
Our full-service approach brings architecture, interior design, concept design, engineering, branding, documentation, and construction support together to help clients think about the entire life of a project—not just the day it opens.
Collaboration is a critical part of that process. Architects, engineers, operators, developers, consultants, vendors, and technical partners all bring different perspectives to a project. Bringing those perspectives together early can reveal opportunities to create a venue that is not only exciting at opening, but practical to operate and evolve.
The result is a building designed not simply as a finished product, but as a platform for what comes next.
The entertainment industry will continue to change.
There will be new technologies we can’t yet predict, new attractions that haven’t been invented, new ways for people to socialize, and new expectations for what an entertainment destination should provide.
We don’t need to know exactly what those changes will be. We need to design environments capable of responding to them. That’s the real opportunity behind future-proof design.
A successful entertainment destination should be memorable on opening day, but it should also have the foundation to remain relevant years later.
Because the best investment isn’t simply a building that works today. It’s a destination that has the ability to keep working, changing, and growing with its guests.
At TK Architects, we believe the future of entertainment design isn’t about predicting what’s next.
Designing for Revenue, Flexibility, and the Guest Experience
Entertainment is no longer about a single attraction.
Today’s most successful entertainment destinations bring together cinema, food & beverage, games, social spaces, premium experiences, and a sense of place to create something larger than the sum of its parts. Guests are no longer simply buying a ticket or participating in an activity. They are choosing how they want to spend their time.
And increasingly, how people choose to spend that time is changing.
We live in a world where entertainment is available almost anywhere, at almost any time. Streaming brings movies into our homes. Social platforms deliver an endless stream of personalized content. Algorithms learn what we like and continuously serve us more of it. Gaming and digital communities allow people to connect without ever sharing the same physical space.
Yet as digital experiences become more personalized and pervasive, the value of something very simple is becoming more apparent:
Being together.
People are looking for opportunities to step away from the screen, put down the phone, and share an experience with other people in the same physical space. Recent consumer research points to growing interest in offline, human-led experiences and communal activities as a counterbalance to digital overload.
That doesn’t mean technology has become less important. Quite the opposite. Technology can make entertainment more immersive, convenient, and personalized. But the most successful destinations understand that technology should enhance the experience, but not replace the human connection at its center.
A movie watched at home is convenient. A movie experienced with an audience is communal.
A game played online can be competitive and engaging. A game played across a table with friends creates a shared memory.
A meal ordered through an app is efficient. Sitting across from someone, sharing food, conversation, and laughter is an experience.
They represent an opportunity for entertainment destinations to provide something that can’t be replicated by an algorithm: a reason to leave home, gather with others, participate in something together, and create memories that exist beyond a screen.
That shift has changed what it means to design an entertainment venue.
The question is no longer simply, “What are we putting in the building?”
It is: “How do we create a destination that people want to visit, stay longer, spend more, connect with others, and come back to?”
At TK Architects, we believe the answer starts with designing the entire experience—not individual components in isolation.
Design the Guest Journey
Great entertainment destinations are designed around how people actually move through and experience a space.
From the moment a guest arrives, every touchpoint contributes to their perception of the venue. Parking and arrival, entry, wayfinding, food and beverage, entertainment, seating, restrooms, social spaces, and even the transitions between activities all play a role. A successful layout makes that journey feel intuitive while still giving guests opportunities to discover something unexpected.
Visibility becomes particularly important in multi-attraction environments. A guest waiting for a movie might discover a game room. Someone coming for dinner might notice a new entertainment offering. A family arriving for one activity may find reasons to stay for several more. Those moments don’t happen by accident. They are the result of thoughtful planning and intentional adjacencies.
And ultimately, the goal is not simply to get guests through the door. It is to give them compelling reasons to stay.
Dwell time has become an increasingly important part of the entertainment experience. Food and beverage, comfortable gathering spaces, premium experiences, games, lounges, and other social environments can all encourage guests to extend their visit.
A well-designed destination might allow a guest to arrive early for dinner, enjoy an activity before a movie, gather with friends afterward, or turn what was intended to be a two-hour visit into an evening-long experience. The architecture supports that behavior by creating spaces that feel connected, comfortable, and worth exploring.
Make Every Square Foot Work
Entertainment venues have always had to balance experience with economics. Today, that balance is even more important.
Every square foot represents an investment—and successful design considers how that space can contribute to both the guest experience and the overall business model. That doesn’t necessarily mean putting more attractions into every available space. It means understanding how spaces can work together and how they can serve multiple purposes.
A gathering space might support casual socializing during the day and become an event or group space in the evening. An F&B environment might serve different audiences and parts of the day. Strategic seating can activate circulation areas while also giving guests places to pause, connect, and observe the activity around them.
The strongest entertainment destinations are planned as ecosystems rather than collections of individual rooms.
That same thinking applies to operations.
A memorable entertainment destination needs to look great, but it also needs to work. Guest circulation, employee circulation, back-of-house access, storage, kitchens, service areas, acoustics, technology, maintenance, and security all influence how successfully a venue operates.
These considerations aren’t separate from the guest experience. They support it.
A beautifully designed restaurant doesn’t succeed if service staff can’t efficiently reach the dining room. A spectacular entertainment space loses impact if guests can’t find it. A premium cinema experience is diminished when acoustics, HVAC, or circulation aren’t properly considered.
The strongest entertainment environments make these operational decisions feel invisible to the guest. That’s the result of thoughtful design.
Create a Destination, Not a Collection of Attractions
When multiple attractions, brands, and experiences occupy the same building, they should feel like part of a larger destination rather than a collection of unrelated rooms.
Architecture, interiors, graphics, branding, lighting, materials, and wayfinding can work together to establish a distinct identity that tells guests where they are, what they can expect, and why this destination is different.
That sense of place becomes especially important as entertainment options continue to expand.
Families may visit during the afternoon. Young adults may arrive in the evening. Corporate groups may use the venue for an event. Friends may gather for food and drinks. Moviegoers may come specifically for a premium cinema experience, a special event, or a unique presentation that gives them a reason to experience a film in person rather than at home.
A successful destination doesn’t require every guest to use every attraction.
Instead, it gives different audiences reasons to be there while creating enough overlap to keep the entire venue active. One guest may come for a movie and discover a new restaurant. Another may arrive for an event and return later with friends. A family may come for one activity and discover several others they want to try on their next visit.
That last part is critical.
The strongest entertainment destinations don’t just create reasons to stay. They create reasons to return.
When a destination offers a variety of experiences, guests don’t have to experience everything in a single visit. The opportunity to discover something new or experience a familiar favorite in a different way can become part of the appeal.
Thoughtful planning allows very different experiences to coexist without competing with one another. Acoustics, lighting, zoning, circulation, seating, and adjacencies all contribute to that balance. The result is a venue that feels active and energetic while still being comfortable and intuitive.
And when the architecture, interiors, branding, and experiences work together, the destination becomes more than a place to visit. It becomes a place people recognize, remember, return to, and recommend to others.
Design for Today and What Comes Next
If there is one constant in entertainment, it is change.
Consumer expectations evolve. Technology changes. New attractions emerge. Food and beverage concepts shift. Operators learn what works—and what doesn’t.
That means today’s successful entertainment venue can’t be designed only for opening day. The most effective projects consider how spaces might evolve over time.
Can a room support a different use in the future? Can technology be upgraded without major disruption? Can infrastructure accommodate new equipment? Can an operator refresh a space without completely rebuilding it? These questions are becoming just as important as the initial design.
Future flexibility doesn’t mean trying to predict exactly what entertainment will look like five or ten years from now. It means creating a foundation that allows a destination to respond when the unexpected happens. That might mean planning for adaptable spaces, accessible infrastructure, flexible technology systems, efficient service areas, or construction strategies that make future renovations easier.
It means thinking beyond the opening-day photograph.
Looking Beyond Opening Day
Designing a successful entertainment destination requires more than understanding today’s trends. It requires anticipating how the venue will evolve as its guests, technology, business model, and market change.
At TK Architects, our approach starts with understanding the entire picture—from the client’s vision and operational goals to the guest experience and the technical requirements that make it possible.
For more than four decades, we have worked alongside entertainment operators, developers, and industry partners to create spaces that bring those pieces together.
But designing for today is only part of the challenge.
What happens when the future arrives?
That is the focus of Part Two of this series: The Future-Proof Entertainment Venue: Designing for What Comes Next.
In the next installment, we’ll take a closer look at the strategies that can help entertainment destinations remain relevant, adaptable, and successful long after opening day. From infrastructure and technology to flexible planning, renovation, and the ability to respond to changing guest expectations, the best entertainment spaces aren’t simply designed for where the industry is today.
This summer, TK attended two industry conferences that were new experiences for our team. Both events were held at the Henry B. González Convention Center along San Antonio’s famous River Walk and focused on industries adjacent to our traditional work in convenience store and food & beverage design.
Although different from the conferences we typically attend, both expos offered valuable insight into the products, technology, and operational trends shaping the industries our clients serve.
Southwest Fuel & Convenience Expo
The first event was the Southwest Fuel & Convenience Expo, held in early June. We had the opportunity to attend thanks to one of our valued project partners, Brad Martin with Rice Christ, Inc. Brad represents LSI Lighting and has worked alongside our team on lighting layouts, fixture selection, and photometric planning for the Allsup’s convenience store rollout program.
As its name suggests, the expo heavily focused on the fuel industry. The show floor featured fueling dispensers, fuel distribution equipment, tanker manufacturers, and supporting infrastructure companies.
While traditional gasoline and diesel systems remained the primary focus, electric vehicle charging solutions were also well represented. As EV adoption continues to grow, fast-charging stations are becoming an increasingly important amenity for convenience store operators, providing another revenue opportunity while helping businesses remain competitive.
Beyond fueling technology, the convenience side of the industry was equally well represented. Vendors showcased refrigeration systems, shelving, foodservice equipment, signage, maintenance services, energy management solutions, and an impressive variety of food products—with plenty of samples available throughout the show.
Texas Restaurant Show
Our second event was the Texas Restaurant Show, held in early July. This year’s event also incorporated the Texas Bar & Nightclub Convention, effectively doubling the exhibit space compared to the Fuel & Convenience Expo.
The show serves both established restaurant operators and entrepreneurs looking to open new concepts. We met with a wide range of vendors representing every aspect of restaurant operations.
Naturally, there were numerous food suppliers, many featuring the Tex-Mex flavors and regional specialties San Antonio is known for. Beyond the food itself, however, the show highlighted the many operational systems that help restaurants succeed.
We explored solutions for point-of-sale and ordering systems, scheduling and timekeeping software, accounting platforms, marketing services, web development, social media, cold storage, warewashing, and new cooking equipment designed to improve efficiency and consistency.
Although we were unable to attend the educational sessions, the show also featured presentations focused on restaurant operations, guest experience, and emerging industry trends that offered valuable learning opportunities for attendees.
Looking Beyond Our Traditional Markets
While these events focused on industries outside the conferences we typically attend, both provided valuable perspectives on markets where TK continues to grow.
Whether it was learning about emerging technologies in convenience retail, discovering new operational solutions for restaurants, or seeing firsthand how operators are adapting to changing guest expectations, the experience reinforced how quickly these industries continue to evolve.
Many of the ideas and innovations we encountered echoed themes we’ve explored in previous articles, including our recent blog on the evolvingFood Hallexperience. As dining, entertainment, and retail continue to intersect, staying connected to these conversations helps us better understand our clients’ businesses and design spaces that remain relevant for years to come.
The Henry B. González Convention Center proved to be an outstanding venue for both events, and for anyone visiting San Antonio, the River Walk remains a destination well worth experiencing.
Since our founding in 1981, TK Architects has been deeply involved in cinema design. In those early years, our work focused on helping operators determine how to make the most of their buildings—whether designing new freestanding theaters or finding creative ways to transform existing retail spaces into successful entertainment venues.
As the industry evolved, so did our role.
In 1985, we were given a unique opportunity to rethink one of the most important parts of the movie-going experience: concessions.
At the time, the menu was relatively simple. Popcorn, soda, and candy remained the staples, while hot dogs and nachos were emerging as exciting additions. Even with a limited menu, efficient design mattered.
We developed a modular concession casework system that gave operators greater flexibility in both design and construction while minimizing the number of steps employees needed to serve guests. Behind the scenes, we also established planning criteria that helped determine the appropriate amount of serving space, storage, shelving, and ice production based on theater size and seating capacity.
Those standards were put to work in more than 50 new theaters over a two-year period, along with numerous renovations and replacement projects. They helped create a level of operational consistency that allowed operators to scale efficiently while improving the guest experience.
Today, looking back, it seems almost unbelievable how much has changed.
The biggest shift hasn’t simply been the menu—it’s been the idea of choice.
Today’s guests expect entertainment destinations to offer experiences that fit their preferences. Some arrive looking for dinner before the movie. Others want craft cocktails, premium coffee, desserts, or a quick grab-and-go option. Every guest has a different favorite, a different routine, and different expectations.
That evolution has transformed the way entertainment venues are designed.
Concession stands have expanded into full-service kitchens. Kitchens naturally led to bars. Bars created opportunities for lounges, social gathering spaces, and premium seating experiences. Dine-in cinemas introduced new operational models, each requiring a different architectural approach—from chef-driven concepts and full wait service to self-ordering systems, countertop dining, rotating tablet arms, and flexible seating arrangements.
As operators invested in kitchens and bars, many realized those amenities could serve guests throughout the day rather than only during movie showtimes. Bowling, family entertainment centers, arcades, and other attractions became natural complements, allowing facilities to maximize both operational efficiency and guest engagement.
Technology has reshaped the guest experience just as dramatically.
Forty years ago, the idea of designing a concession area around unlimited drink refills—or allowing guests to serve themselves—would have seemed unlikely. Today, self-service beverage stations, grab-and-go food offerings, mobile ordering, and even self-checkout have become familiar parts of everyday life. Consumer expectations have changed, and entertainment venues have adapted alongside them.
For a time, the industry experienced what many would describe as an amenities race. Operators competed to offer more attractions, larger menus, luxury recliners, premium formats, expanded food and beverage programs, and increasingly elaborate guest experiences.
That period pushed innovation forward, but today’s approach has become more thoughtful.
The conversation is no longer about offering the most amenities.
It’s about offering the right amenities.
Every project begins with a budget, and every operator has a unique identity. The challenge isn’t simply adding features—it’s creating experiences that reinforce the personality of the venue while delivering long-term value for both guests and owners.
The strongest entertainment destinations aren’t necessarily the ones with the longest list of amenities. They’re the ones where every design decision supports the overall experience.
Novelty will always attract attention, but thoughtful planning creates lasting value.
After more than four decades of designing entertainment destinations, one lesson has remained remarkably consistent: trends will continue to change, but great design always begins by understanding the people you’re designing for.
The amenities may evolve. The technology will certainly evolve. Designing memorable experiences never goes out of style.
For 45 years, we’ve watched entertainment evolve—and we’ve been fortunate to help shape that evolution. While the amenities will continue to change, our goal remains the same: designing places people remember long after the credits roll.
