Nunzio DeSantis, who designed more than 60,000 hotel rooms during his 34 years with global architecture firm HKS, opened a new hospitality architecture firm in Dallas with next generation architect and son Marc DeSantis.
Award-winning architect Nunzio DeSantis and his son Marc DeSantis have launched a specialized hospitality architecture firm, Nunzio Marc DeSantis Architects. Located in Dallas’ ultra-chic Design District, NMDA brings architectural individuality to international resorts, hotels, spas and restaurants.
In only nine months since opening, NMDA has secured the work of nearly 30 different projects in some traditionally hard barriers-to-entry locations, such as Santa Fe, New Mexico, Jackson Hole, Wyoming and Charleston, South Carolina. While many firms are constantly looking to increase breadth of projects, NMDA goes against the grain with its commitment to staying small and focusing solely on hospitality.
Among other accomplishments, Nunzio — who designed more than 60,000 hotel rooms during his 34 years with global architecture firm HKS — played an integral role in the Cabo San Lucas hospitality boom. He designed notable resorts that have shaped the destination, including Las Ventanas al Paraiso, One & Only Palmilla, Esperanza Auberge Resort and Secrets Puerto Los Cabos Golf & Spa Resort.
Co-founder and designer Marc DeSantis’ architecture training at the University of Notre Dame and years at Robert A.M. Stern Architects in New York brings a structured and classical perspective to NMDA. The discipline gained under Stern’s tutelage shaped Marc’s aesthetic and attention to detail, which he imparts on the agency’s younger staff. “Many young architects today are taught about form, not how buildings are put together,” he said. “We teach young designers what makes a building real.”
Photo courtesy of Liane Swanson
