The Television Show, Ozark, has been universally praised for its acting, writing and directing since it premiered on Netflix in 2017. Additionally, its depiction of spaces and locations has made it a valuable resource when discussing Production Design.

For many shows, it can be a challenge to keep the same visual tone with every new season and every new space. However, Season 3 of Ozark masterfully integrates the existing world from Season 1 and 2 with brand new architectural spaces to create one of the best seasons of television in recent memory.

In an exclusive interview with Interiors, we spoke with David J. Bomba, who is the Production Designer for Ozark, Season 3. The images are courtesy of Netflix.

INT: First off, we were curious how the opportunity to do the show, Ozark, came about? What was it about it that made you want to work on it?

DB: I had interviewed with Jason Bateman and I did not get the job. They came back to me with a “we hope to work with David on something in the future” response, which, at the time seemed like your standard consolation tag. A week or two later, I received scripts and an offer to do Season 3 of Ozark. I initially had reservations about the offer. Coming in on a third season of a show with an established look, along with existing sets and locations didn’t necessarily appeal to me. Working with Jason Bateman did. He assured me that there was plenty to sink my teeth into with developing the casino and the world of Navarro, and as an executive producer of the series and the director of the first two episodes, he would be establishing both. He set the hook and reeled me in.

INT: The 3rd Season focuses heavily on the new Casino, the Missouri Bell. The Casino represents how the Byrde’s have grown in terms of their business, but also in terms of architectural space. How developed was the Missouri Belle when it was first described to you? What was the process like designing this space?

DB: The Missouri Belle was not developed at all other than establishing the boat that was purchased and presented in the groundbreaking ceremony at the end of Season 2. There were specific areas and rooms that were scripted that had to be developed and then modeled from a plan. The layout of the casino, bars, restaurants, administrative offices and the back of the house support facilities were all considered in the design of the compound.

As with any design challenge, I started with research and concept development. I was very familiar with “off-shore” gambling and casino operations having spent a good portion of my life in New Orleans and also having worked on various projects in Tennessee and Mississippi where this type of gambling is the norm. There are specific regulations requiring all gaming operations to be off-shore or on the water, thus every possible bit of floor space on the boat, barge or floating vessel is utilized for maximum gaming - slots, card tables, roulette, etc.

To get references specifically for the Missouri Belle and casinos that might be representative of something in the Ozarks, Wes Hagan (location manager) and I visited casinos on the Mississippi River starting in Lawrenceville, Indiana and then driving to Caruthersville, Missouri to scout a second casino that theoretically could have been in Missouri. Photos from this scout and additional research were collected and image boards were presented to Jason Bateman and Chris Mundy, our show runner. I wanted to embrace a different palette for the new casino, different from the shadowy, blue-grey that is a prominent tone throughout the series, Jason was supportive of the contrast and suggested that the Missouri Belle take on the style of a New Orleans riverboat. I ran with that idea and incorporated the feel of the Crescent City’s warehouse district and the old riverfront wharfs that I remembered from my youth in the interior spaces of the casino on stage and the exterior compound that was created at Stone Mountain Park in Atlanta.

INT: This season, the audience is able to see more of the character, Omar Navarro, and the Navarro compound. In terms of Production Design, how did you and your team approach this location? Were there certain things that you wanted to highlight at the compound?

DB: The Navarro compound was scripted as a rural estate. I immediately imagined a hacienda. The challenge was to find something in Georgia that could be transformed into such. As soon as I saw the tone and scale of the mausoleum at the Westview cemetery, I knew we hit the jackpot. Even though it was built during World War II, the style and detail resembled colonial haciendas I had scouted years prior when scouting Mexico for a 19th century feature. And a piece of Mexico evolved minutes from downtown Atlanta.

The scale of Navarro’s world was of great importance to me. I felt that the compound and the interior chambers needed to have a sense of permanence and strength. Imposing. The War Room was shot in the chapel of the mausoleum. The dungeon was built on stage and designed after the first floor warehouse storerooms and cells that I had seen at haciendas throughout Mexico.

INT: Every new space or building that is introduced on the show consistently matches a distinct visual tone. Are there certain qualities or characteristics that you and your team found to create this architectural language?

DB: For the Missouri Belle Casino, I felt that Marty and Wendy Byrde would have hired a design team to create and brand a “destination” for tourists as well as for the locals of the Lake of the Ozarks. Thematically and tonally, I wanted it to stand on its own in the story as a brand-new, thriving attraction that is also has distracting element so that Marty can do his laundering. It was designed to create the sense of constant activity and traffic with a bit of an assault to the senses.

The same with the Navarro compound. We meet Navarro in Season 3. He comes from a different visual and geographic world so I wanted to be strong in making a sharp contrast to anything else that had been seen in this season or previous ones. The texture, tone and scale were intentionally designed to distance his world from that of the Byrde family.

There were other new elements that were introduced as well: Sue Shelby’s home, FBI offices, Chicago exteriors, the St. Joe casinos, a flashback hospital, a state mental hospital and others. Each element was chosen and augmented to either fit in to the specific context of the Byrde’s life in the Ozarks or to contrast it when we are taken away from it.

In addition to the Navarro estate, additional sets were created for scenes scripted in Mexico. An incredible find was Plaza Fiesta. It was a Hispanic mall that was augmented with a stockroom and outdoor market for the opening sequence of the season. We also built the chapel for the Navarro christening, which in typical Ozark fashion, turned into a massacre.

David J. Bomba is a Production Designer and Art Director and has worked on various Films and Television Shows.