Description
Gilbert Stanley Underwood was employed by the Union Pacific Railroad to design resort hotels at Zion, Bryce Canyon, Yosemite, and Grand Canyon. Underwood purposefully designed the stonework to appear like natural rock outcroppings. The main lodge building is set slightly downhill into the side of the canyon and is the complex's central feature. The structure of both the original and rebuilt lodges is a mixture of Kaibab limestone and peeled Ponderosa pine logs.
The original lodge was a shallow U-shaped structure featured the central south-facing Sun Room with large windows and open stone terraces to either side. The east terrace featured an outdoor stone fireplace. The dining room ran along the western terrace with a bank of windows overlooking the canyon and a dramatic log truss roof augmented by concealed steel reinforcement. The eastern wing was a two-story structure with a recreation room on the lower level and a female employee dormitory on the upper level. The roof of the Sun Room was a terrace that stepped up into the main lobby, which was itself capped with an observation tower. The wings held bathing facilities, gift shops and a soda fountain, with a basement containing service areas, and a large room below the Sun Room. The original lodge, with its shallow roof, expressed California design influences, with elements of Spanish Revival style.
The rebuilt lodge maintained the same general outline, but was simplified and strengthened against the severe winter snow loads of the North Rim. The Dining Room was reconstructed largely as it was before, but with a steeper roof pitch, and the Recreation room received similar treatment, without the original upper level, and on a smaller scale than the Dining Room. Compared with the original there was greater use of stone throughout the lodge. The Sun Room was rebuilt in the same relationship to the lobby as before. The reconstruction included wrought iron hardware and lighting fixtures that complement the rustic wood and stone structure. The overall effect of the reconstructed lodge was one of more strongly expressed rustic character.
Read more about this topic: Grand Canyon Lodge
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