Bedford Springs - Honor Award Winner

Architect:  3North
Owner:  Bedford Resort Partners, LLC
General Contractor:  R.T. Reynolds, Inc.
Photographers:  DVDesign Group

Project Narrative

Bedford Springs, a historic resort located at the foot of the Allegheny Mountains in Bedford, Pennsylvania, reopened in 2007 after a three year, $120 million renovation. Between March 2004 and July 2007, Bedford Springs, comprising 250,000 square feet and over 2,000 acres, was rejuvenated with a comprehensive renovation design. Tasked with the leading design role for the entire project, the design firm counted among its responsibilities:

• Consultation on restoration and preservation of historic architecture

• New design of the added, 79,850 sf Springs Eternal House (including spa and guest rooms)

• Total design of landscape across the 28-acre site (including a new outdoor pool complex)

• Comprehensive interior design (including interior architecture as well as furnishings, fixtures, and equipment) throughout

• Creation of sign and way-finding systems

• Creation and production of artwork, exhibit design, and historic interpretation.

Bedford Springs, one of America’s oldest mineral spring water resorts, consists of a complex of 6 historic main buildings: the Greek Revival Colonnade Building (1842) and four adjoining lodging houses (1806-1890).

Architects and interior designers faced a particularly complex problem when confronted with five historic buildings, each a different time period and style, each with a different set of historic moldings and trim, each with an additional layer of changes over time to those moldings and trim. In addition, for preservation standards compliance, designers were required to develop an additional, interpretive system of finishes and trim for those secondary areas that were to be presented as clearly renovated rather than restored. The design matrix for this aspect of the project was enormous and complex with as many as twenty-five complete trim “packages,” each representing a restored or newly interpreted and renovated section of the interior.

Jury Comments:

• Remarkable attention to detail for such a large project.
• Well presented to jury to illustrate how the project was achieved.
• Excellent use of traditional design elements and classic symmetry to yield a rich site plan, respectful of the site.
• New work is appreciative of, but not slavish to existing design vocabulary.