>>> Ohio has a really varied landscape, and one of the better known regions is the Hocking Hills, southeast of Columbus, 40 or 50 miles is a great place to visit almost any time of year.

And there's state parks here and among the state parks as Hocking Hills State Park.

There's a wonderful lodge there recently built to replace the one that burned down some years ago.

It was built by the state and designed by the Columbus firm.

And we are going to meet the designer who did the work.

Hi, Bob.

>>> Hi, Jeff.

Good to see you.

>>> See you.

And glad to be in the Hocking Hills in front of this really impressive building.

It's a beautiful day to be here.

>>> It is.

And this is the new lodge.

>>> This the new lodge.

>>> Completed what year?

>>> 2022.

>>> 22.

So it's almost brand new.

Replacing an earlier one.

>>> Right.

The original Lodge was built in 1970.

>>> Okay.

>>> And unfortunately, it burned down in tragic fire a construction accident that burned right to the ground.

>>> Wow.

>>> We're so far away from everything.

There wasn't a lot of water pressure here.

And so this building has been built to replace that lodge.

But also, it's a full-service lodge.

The other lodge was  a dining only out of place.

>>> Well, it's a really impressive building.

Your firm did the whole design.

I understand you headed the design team.

>>> Is that right?

>>> I did, but it was a big team of architects and landscape architects, engineers, designers.

>>> We had a really great team put this together, of course, working with the ODNR team as well to make sure that we were creating a what we were after was a contemporary expression of a very traditional building type.

>>> Well, I'm not an expert, but it sure l ooks like it came off really well.

>>> I hope so.

>>> Let's take a look inside.

Okay.

>>> Wow.

What a space.

This is great.

I haven't seen anything like this in a long time.

>>> Well, they don't make  them like this very often.

>>> No, they do not.

>>> I see a lot of wood.

Tell me about the wood.

>>> Well, it's a heavy timber structure, and we wanted to bring out the kind of natural atmosphere of the park.

And it was put together by fabulous Amish carpenters.

>>> Was the wood locally  sourced or these trees from.

>>> No to get logs and wood of this scale.

We had to go further away from the West Coast.

>>> So as far as the overall design goes, there's a balcony over here, so there's a lower level.

We're on the main level at the parking lot level.

>>> Right.

>>> There's an upstairs.

Is it  is it three levels altogether?

>>> Three levels.

And then the hotel  also has three levels of rooms.

>>> Okay.

>>> But the big idea here was  to create this grand hall.

>>> The view out over the valley.

>>> You know, you can't really improve on nature.

>>> And if you look carefully at the glass, you'll see that most of it  has a subtle pattern on it.

That's because glass can be dangerous to birds.

>>> Oh right of course.

>>> So we've used specially designed glass so that the birds can see it and go crashing into it.

>>> Right.

You get that, right.

So they don't think it's a clear, open space because that happens with a lot of buildings.

>>> Yeah, people don't think about that.

They see that sometimes of high rise building.

Yeah.

It was important here.

Right.

This space is a  lounge.

It's got fireplaces.

It's got lots of places to sit.

It's right near the restaurant bar.

So this is kind of.

The central idea.

Everything  revolves around this space.

>>> But it's beautifully done.

Well, I'd love to see another level.

Should we go back?

>>> Let's go upstairs.

>>> All right, let's do that.

Yeah.

Here on the second level, you can see these big wood trusses.

>>> Yeah, the trusses are called scissor crosses.

And the idea is that they make the space look even taller.

And we want to emphasize the height and the view out to the.

>>> Yeah.

And it works really well.

And the ironwork is impressive in the lamps.

>>> The lamps are all custom-made.

They were designed for this space.

>>> They came out beautifully.

And you see a lot.

You see reinforcing rods and adjustments and that sort of thing.

It's.

It's a blend of iron.

>>> Everything shows.

>>> Wood.

Yeah.

Yeah.

>>> Everything's visible.

>>> Very little is hidden.

>>> And this is the restaurant.

>>> This is the restaurant,  full-service restaurant.

>>> They use a lot of local  produce and other things here.

The pub is right behind it, and the wall around the pub is live-edge.

The ODNR people actually  harvested from state parks.

>>> That is beautiful.

>>> There are all different varieties of wood as one of the things that kids can do.

They can go around and sort of identify them with that sort of thing.

It's a lot of fun.

We have a lot of outdoor seating.

And on days like today, it's just beautiful to be out there.

>>> It really is nice.

Well, I understand we do have a lower level.

We haven't seen yet.

>>> We do.

>>> Maybe you can lead the way there.

>>> Sure, I can do that.

>>> Thank you.

>>> I love the artwork.

T. >>> He artwork is all done by local artists and it's all through the building.

>>> It's called Hickory Leaves.

That's wonderful.

>>> Yeah.

>>> Well, Hickory must be one of the local woods.

I>>> t is.

It is?

Yes.

So this is the lower level.

And as you know, this is not just a lodge.

It's not just dining.

It's not just a hotel, but it's a conference center as well.

And so this is the lobby for the conference center area meeting rooms are behind us, behind this wall.

It's a very large assembly room.

It can be used for weddings and receptions, meetings, all kinds of things.

>>> And this is a great space.

It's very open here.

Outside the conference center, the beautiful stone fireplaces that artwork and I noticed two up above at the very top  of the chimneys here, the fireplaces.

You got Star Brick from Nelsonville.

That is a famous paving brick that was produced in Nelsonville forever.

>>> So one of the things we try to do throughout the design is to incorporate natural features from this region of the state.

So you mentioned the Star Brick from Nelsonville.

That was a very big, important industry here.

>>> It was.

>>> But we also have the fireplaces upstairs.

You can see fossils and other bits and pieces of kind of archeological things.

We have kids that come here, you know, have a contest to try to find  them all.

It's really fun.

I think as we go outside, you can see how these features have been integrated into the park and the building together.

Why don't we take a walk outside and take a look?

>>> Okay.

Let's go.

>>> So here's where you can see how the lodge and the site come together.

>>> Yeah, it's sort of civilization integrated into the natural setting  and it's really nicely done.

>>> So this lodge occupies approximately the same footprint as the original lodge.

But some of the things we had  to do here to level this out, to create this great gathering space, which is actually designed so that fire trucks can get down here and turn around just in case they should ever have to.

>>> Wow.

>>> Get down here.

>>> Yeah, that was a good idea.

>>> It's one of the things that had to be done, you know, as we built a new lodge to make sure that we never had a problem with it again.

The other problem that we had during the fire was there wasn't enough water.

And so part of this project was, we decided, built a new water tower to provide not only volume of water, but the pressure of water that's required to fight a fire.

The building has a full fire suppression system, a sprinkler system, which is the old lodge didn't have.

So this building, while it may look traditional, has all of the modern life safety code  features built into it.

Accessibility for people with disabilities, all of those things you'd expect in a modern building as well as fire prevention.

So this is a good place where you can see the whole scope of the lodge.

You can see some of the local artwork, you can see the stairway connection from our hikers pavilion down to the Whispering Cave trail, which has just been voted one of the best hiking trails in the country.

>>> Wow.

>>> And over here, of course, is the hotel.

We have an 81 room full service hotel, indoor and outdoor pools,  indoor and outdoor hot tubs.

>>> Wow.

And a big gathering space at the end of that where they do lots of program.

>>> Boy, it is quite an accomplishment.

I'm sure the old lodge had its charms, but this this has to be sort of the next generation, the next stage up.

>>> Well, I think it is.

I think, you know, we work a lot with the ODNR staff and Director Mertz, who is really engaged in the detailing and making  sure everything was perfect.

And that was a big part of  the whole design process, was to make sure that this does everything that we think a 21st-century lodge and conference.

>>> Traditional Materials, traditional form, but really 21st century.

Well, it really is a great design and a wonderful resource for the state of Ohio and people who come to visit it.

>>> Thanks for the tour.

>>> You bet.

Any time.