This study examines resort and spa environments in the context of extensive hotel milieus and exclusive interior spaces. In terms of interior design, the resort spa spectrum is broad and ill-defined, with a marked lack of research specific to the architectural and interior design of this hospitality segment. The identification and evaluation of replicated design traits in resorts and spas will enable a better understanding and more successful application of these characteristics. In this regard, the influence of past resort and spa design decisions on contemporary design will be comprehensive and strengthen the continuum of hospitality design.

The research model includes three approaches. The methodological approach is the development of a typology of published professional designs in resort and spa interiors. The theoretical approach draws from George Kubler?s study, The Shape of Time, which argues that there are reiterative historic design traits that span time and cross cultural boundaries. The critical approach makes contemporary interior design practices about resorts and spas a subject of study. Each research approach was addressed via the collection of photographic evidence, analysis of historical practices, survey of historic and contemporary trade magazines and literature, and site visits to both urban and resort spas.

The culmination of this thesis research is the development of a series of Resort and Spa intypes (interior archetypes) for the on-going Intypes (Interior Archetypes) Research and Teaching Project, founded and directed by Professor Jan Jennings. The Intypes Project names contemporary design practices that have not been named and disseminates new knowledge through a web database ? www.intypes.cornell.edu. Eighteen Resort and Spa Intypes were developed in this study, identifying reoccurring vocabularies and their impact on spatial experience, in terms of color, floor composition, furnishing, material, and spatial composition. To further expound on each of the eighteen intypes, individual timelines and collective analysis of these typologies will disseminate a previously lacking comprehensive knowledge across resort and spa industries.