{"id":216935,"date":"2023-10-09T08:34:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-09T12:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/?post_type=id_project&p=216935"},"modified":"2023-10-09T16:22:52","modified_gmt":"2023-10-09T20:22:52","slug":"unwind-in-mii-amo-a-sedona-spa","status":"publish","type":"id_project","link":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/projects\/unwind-in-mii-amo-a-sedona-spa\/","title":{"rendered":"Unwind in this Updated Sedona Spa Surrounded by Red Rock"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Also new is the relaxation room, featuring a wool rug and chenille-upholstered lounge chairs and ottomans, all custom by EDG.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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October 9, 2023<\/p>\n\n\n

Words: <\/span>Monica Khemsurov<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photography: <\/span>Douglas Friedman<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Unwind in this Updated Sedona Spa Surrounded by Red Rock<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

The Arizona desert town of Sedona is sometimes referred to as the New Age Capital. It\u2019s a longtime mecca for yogis and spiritual seekers, thanks in part to its otherworldly landscape of striated red-rock formations. That\u2019s why Enchantment Group, the Scottsdale-based resort-management company, decided to open Mii amo\u2014one of the country\u2019s first destination spas\u2014there in 2001, and why Gluckman Tang Architects<\/a> decided to put its concept for the project entirely in the service of one goal: highlighting Sedona\u2019s beauty. \u201cIt\u2019s so awe-inspiring and transporting,\u201d says architect Dana Tang, who\u2019s now a partner at GTA but had only been with the firm three years when she first began work on Mii amo. \u201cBack then, we looked to create a building that didn\u2019t compete with that, that prioritized a sense of place in the canyon\u2014really a frame for a visitor\u2019s experience of the natural surroundings.\u201d The approach paid off, with Mii amo becoming known as one of the top spas in the world. But 20 years of runaway success ultimately left the 16-key property in serious need of expansion and updating. This past February, it reopened after a two-year, $40 million renovation, led by GTA, with FF&E by EDG Interior Architecture + Design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inside, she focused on using strategically placed glass walls to maximize views, and adobe brick, river-rock floors, and local woods to blend in with those views. \u201cThe style was in the background,\u201d EDG president and CEO Jennifer Johanson begins. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t the kind of place you\u2019d walk into and think, Oh wow, that\u2019s an amazing interior. It\u2019s more like you really feel the power of this place.\u201d That feeling was heightened by GTA\u2019s very intentional, James Turrell-inspired approach to light, with skylights, wall cutouts, and colonnaded fin walls employed to showcase the desert sun as it changed throughout the day, or across seasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mii amo, a Destination Spa, Undergoes a Design Refresh<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"sunken
At Mii amo, a resort spa in Sedona, Arizona, originally designed in 2001 by Gluckman Tang Architects and recently renovated and enlarged by the firm and EDG Interior Architecture + Design, an indoor pool has been transformed into a living room, with custom sunken seating surrounded by Stalattite onyx. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Even spaces that received the most dramatic overhauls in Mii amo\u2019s makeover stay true to those objectives. In the property\u2019s central living room\u2014above a new onyx-framed, dusky rose\u2013upholstered conversation pit retrofitted into the footprint of a former indoor pool\u2014GTA created a moon-shaped wall cutout that\u2019s illuminated from behind by shifting natural light, somewhere between an artwork and a primitive timepiece. \u201cThe circle also symbolizes completeness and wholeness,\u201d Tang notes. The spa\u2019s restaurant, now called Hummingbird, was enlarged, opened up to the canyon views via a new glass expanse, and updated with canted walls and a coffered wooden ceiling that creates a more interesting and dimensional interplay with the light. And in the added and renovated guest rooms, bathtubs are now set beneath huge picture windows and surrounded by textured, fluted porcelain tile that also recurs in the revamped spa areas. \u201cYou\u2019re in this rugged landscape, so having smooth tile didn\u2019t seem quite right,\u201d Tang adds. \u201cThe porcelain\u2019s texture references the way the water carves the rocks in the canyon.\u201d Even the movement and contemplation rooms are understated spaces oriented toward floor-to-ceiling views, first of a new relaxation garden filled with native plantings, and then of the canyon beyond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Resort Features More Space for Guests and Spa Services\u00a0<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

While the renovation expanded the resort\u2019s footprint by more than 70 percent, which includes the addition of seven more guest rooms\u2014 housed in three freestanding casitas\u2014and an expanded spa building that now features a fitness wing, bringing the total square footage to 57,000, both firms hewed closely to the spirit of the existing building, which was meant to be as spare and reductive as possible. Its exterior was imagined as a minimal take on the local pueblo revival style, with red stucco walls echoing the rich hues of the canyon and a striking cylindrical element painted blue to mirror the sky. (In fact, Tang required members of her team, some who began designing the original Mii amo 25 years ago, to mountain-bike and hike the Sedona trails together to kick off the renovation project.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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When it came to furnishing all those spaces, EDG was likewise tasked with keeping everything as calming and essential as possible, from the goat-hair and wool carpets to the natural artifacts appointing the guest rooms. The repetition of identical chairs in the living and contemplation rooms further lessens visual noise, reminding spa-goers that, Johanson says, \u201cThey\u2019re united in this journey, even though it\u2019s individual.\u201d Nearly all the furniture throughout is custom, by the way, save for EDG\u2019s selection of Patricia Urquiola chairs in the restaurant and casita blankets by a Cheyenne artist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the start of the project, Johanson and her team harvested a set of natural material samples directly from the canyon to develop their palette around, and, with GTA, often chose final textiles and paint colors on-site, against the backdrop of both the building and its surroundings. Johanson says they had to practice an unusual amount of restraint for the project, abandoning their typically more layered approach and continuously paring back their designs to cede to the landscape as the star of the show. \u201cIt was a seesaw where we\u2019d do something and then say, \u2018No, that\u2019s too far, let\u2019s go back,\u2019\u201d she recalls. \u201cBut it was also such a rewarding challenge to try to make the simplest outcome so elegant and so appropriate for this location. When you\u2019re in this place you really do feel like you\u2019re one with it. It\u2019s magical.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Marine-grade Omer chairs and table furnish a guest-room balcony.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Explore the Sultry Interiors of Mii amo, which Reflect the Desert Sun<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"sunken
The seating, upholstered in subtly varying colors, just like those of the nearby canyons, is backed by a James Turrell-esque cutout in the stucco wall that\u2019s illuminated from behind by shifting natural light. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"a
The other end of the living room has a woodburning fireplace to be admired from either semiprivate windowed banquettes for solitude or a cluster of custom lounge chairs for togetherness; the existing Douglas fir plywood ceiling was refinished by GTA.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The color of the stucco and plaster of the spa\u2019s original exterior architecture mirrors those of Sedona\u2019s rocks and sky. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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A local artisan crafted the host stand at the entrance to Hummingbird, the property\u2019s new restaurant, of alder.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"inside
White oak backs the banquettes in the restaurant\u2019s dining room, which EDG outfitted with custom tables and Patricia Urquiola\u2019s Nuez chairs.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"guest
The 23 guest rooms include seven new casitas with custom bed throws by Cheyenne artist Jordan Ann Craig, wool wall art by Niki Litts, traditional adobe kiva fireplaces, and stump tables carved from local eucalyptus logs. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"quartzite
Renovated bath\u00adrooms have honed-quartzite vani\u00adties and picture windows that look out to private gardens. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"mostly
EDG outfitted a suite\u2019s living room with custom, mostly wooden furniture and fiber art by Bharti Trivedi. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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\"the
A highlight of Mii amo\u2019s original building is the crystal grotto, a meditative room with a dirt floor, alder banquette, and a light-shifting ceiling portal. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\"a
GTA\u2019s refurbishment of the main spa entailed removing the front wall of each sauna and replacing with glass to let in more light.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"a
The new fitness wing includes a movement room with a 10-foot-high glass wall that affords views of the Kachina Woman rock formation.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"an
An alder portal leads from the crystal grotto to original river-rock terrazzo flooring and a new concentric-circle wall work by artist Katie Sandridge that recreates the canyon\u2019s stones in hand-shaped clay. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"the
Also new is the relaxation room, featuring a wool rug and chenille-upholstered lounge chairs and ottomans, all custom by EDG.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
PROJECT TEAM<\/h6><\/div>\n\n\n\n

edg interior architecture + design<\/strong>: jane mcgoldrick; cecily watson; christine anneken; katie everidge; julie compagno; pieter stougaard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

gluckman tang architects<\/strong>: greg yang; mark shahlamian; elena english; astghik danielyan; grant scott; richard tobias.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

woodward engineering<\/strong>: lighting consultant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

curate art group<\/strong>: art consultant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

colwell shelor landscape architecture<\/strong>: landscape architect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

rudow + berry<\/strong>: structural engineer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

associated mechanical engineers<\/strong>: mep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

shephard-wesnitzer<\/strong>: civil engineer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

lily jack; ironwood mills; j.e. wood & metal; skypad; woodland furniture<\/strong>: custom furniture workshops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

hopper finishes<\/strong>: custom plasterwork.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

balfour beatty<\/strong>: general contractor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PRODUCT SOURCES<\/h6><\/div>\n\n\n\n
FROM FRONT<\/h6><\/div>\n\n\n\n

good fellas industries<\/strong>: custom cushions (living room, grotto).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

brentano fabrics<\/strong>: sofa fabric (living room).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

andreu world<\/strong>: chairs (restaurant).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

resolute<\/strong>: sconces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

carroll leather; lvl custom upholstery<\/strong>: custom seating upholstery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

source furniture; table topics<\/strong>: custom tables.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

glyph haus<\/strong>: wall hanging (guest room).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

century industries<\/strong>: custom sconces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

las vegas rock<\/strong>: vanity solid surfacing (bathroom).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

through bed bath & beyond<\/strong>: stool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

masayaco<\/strong>: custom bench.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

baths of distinction<\/strong>: tub.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

swfcontract<\/strong>: blinds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

brizo<\/strong>: sink, bath fittings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

quality & company<\/strong>: custom sofa (suite living room).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

akula living<\/strong>: furniture (balcony).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

presidential pools<\/strong>: custom spa (spa).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

perfect wellness group<\/strong>: sauna.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

pierpoint<\/strong>: custom rug (relaxation room).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

material bespoke stone + tile<\/strong>: stone flooring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

THROUGHOUT<\/h6><\/div>\n\n\n\n

sherwin-williams company<\/strong>: paint.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n