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Chris Barth & Mark Paullin, PartnersDesigning a resort involves a delicate balance between meeting the operational needs of a property and creating an inviting experience for guests. When function begins to drive the design too heavily, a property will lose the warmth and character that make it feel like a destination in the first place.
To keep the human experience at the heart of resort design, Arcade Architecture brings a residential sensibility to its hospitality work. Its roots in high-end custom residential architecture help the firm bring the intimacy, detail and livability of a finely designed home into clubs and resorts.
Many resort guests share the expectations of homeowners Arcade has served over the years, giving the firm an understanding of what makes a space feel comfortable and personal. It carries those insights to create properties that feel more like refined homes than conventional commercial buildings, while still accommodating the practical needs of a resort.
“We want the space to feel authentic, not like a room with trim or decor simply added at the end,” says Mark Paullin, Partner.
To carry the design intent through construction and beyond, the firm stays involved in architecture, interior design, site and landscape planning, contractor selection and construction observation. Furniture dimensions, circulation, room proportions and materials are considered early in the design process. Its experience with clubs and resorts also helps integrate the functional needs of kitchens, dining areas and food and beverage facilities into the overall design.
Designing Around People and Place
Every project begins with the site and clientele. Arcade listens to client needs, studies the people who will use a property, the surrounding community and what the setting calls for before developing a design direction. It draws on the local vernacular, materials and available trades to create buildings that belong to their surroundings.
The physical character of sites shapes the design. Its experience with mountain projects, for example, has given the firm a strong understanding of steep terrain and how buildings can work with the land rather than forcing the site to accommodate them.
This sensitivity also shapes its sustainability efforts. Carefully placing and scaling buildings can reduce disturbance to the natural landscape, while LEED experience, energy-conscious decisions and thoughtful material selection support responsible design.
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We want the space to feel authentic, not like a room with trim or decor simply added at the end.
One resort project put this site-sensitive thinking into practice. After earlier architectural and landscape decisions stalled progress, Arcade reviewed the land plan and proposed a series of smaller buildings instead of a 50,000-square-foot resort or single clubhouse. Fitness, range, dining and pool facilities were distributed around the site allowing visitors to experience the valley and lake. The natural landscape did not have to be extensively altered. At the grand opening, visitors assumed several of the new buildings had been preserved from the early 20th century, when they had actually been newly designed.
“When ownership has faith in us, we hop in, solve problems and move things forward,” says Chris Barth, Partner. “People love the process and come back to us for another project.”
Creating Timeless Spaces
Timelessness is a consistent thread throughout the work. The firm looks to historic architectural examples for principles of proportion, scale, texture and materiality, then carries those ideas into contemporary work. Spaces are designed from the bones out, with their proportions, textures and relationships between rooms shaping how they look, function and feel. It also resists short-lived design trends, favoring architecture grounded in regional history and character.
Arcade remains a long-term architectural partner as a property grows and evolves. For instance, Arcade began working with the Cashiers club in 1989, starting with its first building. As the club grew, the firm added a lodge, dining facilities and fitness buildings, creating a campus where each new structure fits naturally with the existing ones.
With an expanding range of possibilities ahead, Arcade Architecture remains focused on creating places that feel authentic to their setting and enduring in how they are experienced.
Resort Design That Feels Native to Place
A resort can be technically complete and still feel misplaced. Owners are asking architecture to carry the demands of hospitality without reading like a generic commercial complex. Scale becomes an early test. Oversized buildings can flatten the character of a site, while loosely related structures can make movement feel accidental. The stronger response starts with the land, local architectural language, daily circulation and the expected pattern of use. A resort should feel composed for its setting rather than transferred from another market.
Site judgment is one of the clearest dividing lines between competent design and work that belongs to a place. Mountain properties may force decisions around steep grades, long views, access and building massing before appearance is even discussed. Coastal or country settings impose a different vocabulary. Buyers need an architect that can read those cues without turning regional character into surface decoration. Building placement should support the terrain and preserve the qualities that made the site desirable. It should also keep the architecture from overpowering its surroundings.
The interior experience carries equal weight. Resort members spend time in spaces that have very different functions, yet the building has to feel coherent from room to room. A lobby that is too formal, a dining room that is too large, a bar that lacks intimacy or a locker room that feels institutional can weaken the experience even when the plan works on paper. Room scale, circulation, daylight and interior relationships deserve attention at the architectural stage. The relevant test is whether the architect can balance comfort with commercial function.
The handoff between design and construction is another pressure point. Design intent can erode when land planning is detached from interior decisions or when the architect disappears once drawings are issued. Owners should look for continuity from early siting through documentation, bidding, construction observation and later modifications. Contractor coordination matters because resort projects often change as ownership priorities become clearer. A design practice that remains engaged can resolve those changes without allowing each decision to pull the property in a different direction.
"Arcade Architecture brings a residential design discipline to resort work, shaping buildings around regional character and the way members actually use the spaces."
Longevity deserves the same scrutiny. Resorts are expected to age in place, not cycle through visual trends every few years. Historic precedent and regional vernacular can give a project a longer design life when they inform proportion and scale rather than being added as decoration. Environmental choices also become more credible when they begin with siting and building size. Those decisions influence the amount of grading and clearing a project requires. A design that works with existing topography can limit unnecessary disturbance while keeping the landscape legible.
Arcade Architecture is a premier choice for owners who want resort buildings to feel closer to fine residences than conventional hospitality facilities. It brings a residential design discipline to resort work, shaping buildings around regional character and the way members actually use the spaces. Its scope can extend from site evaluation and architectural design through interiors, bidding support, construction management, landscape enhancement and post-construction input. The firm also stays involved with contractor selection and construction observation, helping preserve design intent as the project moves from land planning into built form. That combination fits buyers who value place-specific design and sustained architectural involvement over a standardized resort template.
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