Talking Stick Resort

This destination conferencing resort was designed to take advantage of the unobstructed views of the McDowell Mountains with the Talking Stick Golf course in the foreground. At just over 600,000sf, the project supported four signature food and beverage destinations, retail space, over 60,000sf of interior conference and breakout meeting space, and over 600 luxury hotel rooms. Designed during the early stages of COVID, the project investigated the future of large-scale gatherings in a post-pandemic world. Leveraging the temperate climate of Phoenix during three seasons of the year, all of the project's meeting venues had access to exterior space and fresh air, which further expanded the event options with over 90,000 sf of exterior event lawns, courtyards, and patios.

Additional exterior amenities included a destination pool experience and a quiet fitness and wellness pool and courtyard directly tied to the 15,000sf signature spa. The project artfully hid the back of house on the project's grade floor, connecting all wings of the hotel, which was camouflaged by berming the parking side of the project up to the second floor. This had the added benefit of bringing guests to a grand second-floor lobby that offered expansive views of the pool area and the mountains in the distance.