Check Out These 9 Beautiful, Wood-Built Hospitality Projects
In the competitive hospitality space, creating unique environments and guest experiences is essential to standing out from the competition. Innovators across the United States are incorporating wood in their structure and designs to promote sustainability, speed timelines to open to guests, and elevate the user experience on their properties—in more ways than one. Explore these 9 outstanding examples of wood’s transformative power in hospitality design.
1. Humbird Hotel
Situated on an awkward, angular site with a steep grade in the mountains of northern Idaho, the Humbird Hotel, designed by Skylab, leveraged prefabricated mass timber and on-site light-frame construction to solve unique design problems. “Timber was not just a material choice for the project; it was a catalyst for the entire design process,” says Brent Grubb, Skylab principal and co-founder.
2. Ulery's Lodge
Big Sky, Montana, averages over 400 inches of snowfall each year, which, while excellent for skiing, requires significant environmental considerations when designing and constructing buildings. CCY Architects designed Ulery’s Lodge with light framing supported by glulam beams and columns, plus a cross-laminated timber (CLT) roof that can withstand snow loads up to 200 pounds per square foot.
3. Cedartree Hotel
The Cedartree Hotel in Hillsboro, Oregon, perfectly blends Japanese design with the Pacific Northwest’s style, incorporating natural elements throughout the unique four-story hotel. A light-frame structure, wood-frame shear walls, engineered wood floor joists, a wood beam framed floor, prefabricated wood roof trusses, and stunning rough-hewn cedar framing make this first-of-its-kind project possible.
4. Hotel Magdalena
Austin-based hotel operator Bunkhouse differentiates its properties from the city’s bustling tourism industry with innovative design. Hotel Magdalena, designed in collaboration with Lake|Flato, epitomizes this philosophy through beautiful exposed timber outdoor walkways, dowel laminated timber roofing and flooring, light-frame construction for the interior wall system, and intricate wood detailing throughout.
5. Moxy Oakland Downtown
The Moxy Oakland Downtown is the first hotel in the U.S. to be built with modular wood-frame units, a strategy that saw the seven-story project built quickly, efficiently, and cost-effectively. RSP Architects‘ design included factory-built modules for 135 King rooms, five Accessible rooms, and five Bunk-Bed rooms—which were built, delivered and stacked in just a few weeks.
6. 209 Broadway
Located along Nashville’s legendary Lower Broadway, 209 Broadway’s mass timber construction honors the area’s historic commercial warehouses while showing how far this renewable structure type has come. Anecdote Architectural Enterprises used mass timber to create large communal spaces, an open stair, and a rooftop terrace that blends indoor and outdoor space seamlessly.
7. Rex Hill Tasting Room
When the Rex Hill Winery was exploring design options for expanding its tasting room, the team weighed the benefits of wood and structural steel. Wood’s aesthetic appeal, offsite construction capabilities, cost, and energy efficiency all factored into the decision-making process. Expanding the winery’s existing structure with mass timber aligned with the company’s commitment to economic, environmental, and social responsibility and created a studding addition to the destination winery.
8. Cakebread Cellars
When Cakebread Cellars expanded, it entrusted BCV Architecture + Interiors to make innovative use of heavy timber and light-wood framing to create new hospitality and production areas. Glulam beams frame the grand entry, and custom wood light fixtures provide natural focal points. Wood also helped create sophisticated, welcoming tasting rooms and support an expansive production area that is as beautiful as the rest of the winery’s luxe aesthetic.
9. Lasting Joy Brewery
Lasting Joy Brewery’s new tasting room is composed of a glulam structural frame and CLT roof. Auver Architecture designed an entirely glass enclosure with an interior infused with wood, as the trusses are very tightly spaced and the CLT roof deck is left exposed. The inversely raised roof floods the space with natural light, creating a welcoming space that complements the surrounding landscape.
Project teams are separating their hospitality projects from the pack with innovative mass timber and light-frame construction, and the WoodWorks Innovation Network is helping connect industry leaders and showcase excellence in wood design and construction. Membership in the WoodWorks Innovation Network allows you to share your expertise with mass timber and other wood building systems. Post your projects and share your experience for the opportunity to engage with developers and others who may want to collaborate on projects.
