MAYBE BECAUSE it originated as a tennis ranch when it opened in 1987, or maybe because it already ranks among the best travel destinations in the United States, the owners of Enchantment Resort were not sure that their Sedona, Arizona, campus needed to cater to nature seekers too when they tapped Gluckman Tang Architects in 2018 to design a trailhead building. Though the resort's longtime trail guides were beloved by guests, "There was a perception that hikers and moun- tain bikers preferred camping over hotels," recalls firm partner Dana Tang. But after completing the programming and design of the new 4,000-square-foot Trail House, there was unexpected demand for adventure tourism. Gluckman Tang had added on to the Enchantment campus once before, building a spa facility (record, May 2001), which the firm is now modernizing. With both expansions, Tang says, "we embraced materials that were already there and then used them in a more modern way." For the Trail House, an asymmetrical pair of L-shaped volumes that slide along a wide north-south corridor, the New York-based architects avoided the red sandstone that is synonymous with Sedona, instead employing red stucco and adobe brick for the exterior of the wood-frame structure, which rises above foundation walls, footings, and on-grade slabs all formed in concrete. The vertical surfaces meet at a weathering-steel slot, which functions as a scupper during the summertime monsoon season.
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