Alderbrook Resort & Spa
Alderbrook Resort & Spa has been welcoming guests to Hood Canal for more than a century. The renovation began with a question of what should remain familiar and what needed to change for the way people use the resort today.
SkB Architects reworked the lobby and adjoining public spaces to give guests more reasons to stay there throughout the day. Places for coffee, conversation, a drink, reading, or simply taking in the water now sit within an interior shaped by timber, stone, wool, rope, and commissioned work made specifically for Alderbrook.
Hood Canal, WA
12,000 SF
Hotel, Restaurant & Spa
Concept
Alderbrook Resort & Spa carries memories for people who have returned to Hood Canal over many years. The renovation needed to feel new without making the resort unfamiliar.
SkB Architects looked to the lodge itself and the landscape around it for cues. Familiar materials and domestic pieces sit alongside commissioned artwork, custom lighting, and furnishings made for the project. The result is intentionally layered, with rooms that feel as though they have acquired things over time.
The public spaces also became lighter and easier to inhabit. Seating gathers around the windows and fireplace, smaller alcoves offer places to settle in, and the lobby becomes somewhere to spend part of the day rather than simply pass through on the way to a guest room.
“The design draws on the idea of thoughtful nostalgia, assembling familiar materials, domestic references and handcrafted details into an environment that feels accumulated rather than newly installed”
A place to settle in
The lobby had largely served as a point of arrival. The renovation gives it more to do. Seating is arranged for different lengths of stay, from a quick conversation to an afternoon near the windows, with the bar, fireplace, and waterfront helping organize the room.
Built in benches, lounge seating, shared tables, and smaller alcoves give guests choices without dividing the lobby into separate rooms. The result is a public space that can change over the course of the day while still feeling like one place.
From the Hood Canal
Grey blue tones pick up the water outside the windows. Warm woods relate to the lodge's timber structure, while leather, embroidered wool, rope, stone, and woven surfaces bring different textures into close reach.
Several pieces were made specifically for Alderbrook. Artwork combines driftwood, stone, and resin. Custom lighting uses rope detailing and handcrafted construction. Carpets draw from patterns found in the sea. These references are loose enough that the rooms still feel like a hotel rather than an interpretation of the landscape.
More room within the Resort
The work extended beyond the lobby. Former back of house space and an oversized gift shop became a new all day drinkery, adding another place for guests to meet, work, have coffee, or return for a drink later in the day.
The change increased the range of places available to guests without adding to the building's footprint. Together with the reworked lobby, it gives the public side of the resort a different rhythm. Guests can arrive, settle in, move between spaces, and find reasons to return to them at different points in their stay.
