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[Urist McScoopbeard]

Mining need not scar a fortress aesthetically!

Take for example this [hypothetical] map of Moria:


Notice how the rough tunnels bleed into the main thoroughfares, and indeed form labyrinthine caverns themselves. Mostly at the edges of the Kingdom of course, but also in the deeper, orc-infested areas. They remain rough and wild without affecting the majesty of the more civilized parts (although Moria is of course, described as pillaged and desecrated).

Take next, this map of Hollownest:

Yes 2d sidescroller, I know, but observe the construction of the Kingdom. A great city in the center connected to ever smaller and more exotic villages, often ravaged by uncharted or wild tunnels. There is also to consider the BORDER of the Kingdom. You could simply designate an area that is primarily for building and mine outside of that area, either literally separating the kingdom proper from the mines with a subterranean moat, or simple doors and gates.

The main thoroughfares tend to be near the surface where visitors may more easily make their way to the interior of the kingdom. They tend to be largely disconnected from nearby wilderness and mines (aside from the main entrances to those places) presumable for safety. You might consider keeping your constructions and mining operations separate entirely, connecting all locations via one travel tunnel (like the Stagways of Hollow Knight).

The point is, there are ALOT of options to keep your mining aesthetic. None of them probably good for FPS, but that be the price to pay for pretty looking Dwarf Kindoms.

[carewolf]

Build the starter area on levels 1 and 3, the real underground fort way deeper (10-50), and the real above ground for later. There will always be an old layer, but does it matter. You can also fill it with walls.

[NordicNooob]

I build forts in two ways.
1. I use my classic blueprint. A 15x15 box with 4 2x2 staircases in each corner. This repeats on every z level from surface to where I end my fort (normally about 6z deep). In each stone layer, 3 3x3 rooms get dug in each corner of the 15x15 room, all connected to the room by a single door. Doing this in each corner means 12 rooms per floor, with room left for a 7x7 room to be dug. This room can have any purpose - from dining halls to hospitals to memorial rooms. I dig new 7x7s as needed. Workshops and stockpiles are placed in the 15x15 rooms in the middle of each floor, with each floor dedicated to an industry. In the soil layer (I try to only have 1 soil layer), four 3x3 plots and stockpiles for food, as well as a still, kitchen, butchery, tannery, and farmers workshop take up the entire floor to form a fully developed food industry.
2. Improvise time! Still pretty cookie cutter in the terms of forts, I improvise. Big square rooms for workshops and stockpiles, all lined with bedrooms (1x4 bedrooms that share a door with 1 other bedroom) or other utilitarian rooms. These normally have a single central stairwell.
Neither of these layouts need a transition phase. The first can be made quickly enough that the only "transition" needed is moving a few workshops to their proper level. The second doesn't care what happens, so stuff gets built and never stops getting used.

[snow dwarf]

Well in my current fort, while the grand palace (the actual fort) is being constructed, I'm having my dwarfs live in a "hillock" that I dug out. The hillock has a staircase all the way to magma cause I needed it for the furnaces and furniture for the future fort. Once I finish digging out at least the most important parts of the new fort I'm going to slowly start moving everything there. I might use the hillock for something, but I might just lock it up.... Or now that I think about it.... I needed a place for the jail....

[Flying Dice]

I typically do dual-purpose for my outermost dig. Rooms that house early storage, housing, &c. just happen to be the right size and layout for trade depots, barracks, waystation storerooms, &c.