Prince of Wales Hotel
Prince of Wales Hotel | |
---|---|
General information | |
Architectural style | Rustic |
Location | Alberta Highway 5, Waterton, Alberta T0K 2M0 |
Coordinates | 49°03′32″N 113°54′13″W / 49.05889°N 113.90361°W |
Named for | Edward, The Prince of Wales |
Construction started | August 1926 |
Opened | 25 July 1927 |
Management | Pursuit Collection |
Height | 37 metres (121 ft) |
Technical details | |
Floor count | 7 |
Design and construction | |
Architect(s) | Thomas D. McMahon |
Developer | Great Northern Railway |
Main contractor | Oland and Scott Construction of Cardston |
Website | |
www | |
Official name | Princes of Wales Hotel National Historic Site of Canada |
Designated | 6 November 1992 |
The Prince of Wales Hotel is a historic hotel located in
The
Location
The Prince of Wales Hotel is situated on
The hamlet of Waterton, along with the Prince of Wales Hotel is situated within the
Design
Architecture
The Prince of Wales Hotel is one of
The building was designed in a Rustic architectural style. As a result, the building is primarily made of wood materials for its construction, cladding and detailing.[4] The majority of the lumber was provided by sawmill in Somers, Montana. The Glacier Park Hotel and Many Glacier Hotel were initially used by McMahon as a design template for the new hotel.[5] However, in an effort to place the focus of the room on the nature outside, McMahon designed a lobby for the Prince of Wales completely different from its templates. The lobby for the Prince of Wales Hotel was perpendicular to the length of the building, and incorporated two-storey windows facing Upper Lake Waterton.[6] Other rustic elements within the hotel, including a natural wood detailing, and a timber-framed lobby, with open spaces ascending to the building's roof.[4] Wood pillars at the hotel are made of Douglas fir.[3] The building's rotunda features hand-carved posts and beams, topped by queen posts.[1]
Early into the hotel's construction, the pace which Oland and Scott's crews worked outpaced the rate at which McMahon could produce new designs. During the hotel's construction, it was reported in the Lethbridge Herald that there was evidence Oland and Scott were only receiving their blueprints when the next stage of construction was underway, and were not always delivered on time.[7] Redesigning the hotel based on the suggestions from Hill, the final plans McMahon sent to Oland and Scott deviated significantly from the original plans they were building off of. The redesign saw the hotel significantly enlarged, with the addition of three storeys for a total of seven floors, increasing the height of the lobby roof and the number of balconies, and added 12 dormers in place the original four gables on the hotel wings.[2] The new designs attempted to save as much of the existing construction as possible, with few design changes made to the first three floors of the building.[2]
The most significant addition in the new design plans however was the addition of Swiss chalet architectural elements to the hotel. The idea to draw upon this style was from Hill, who suggested it to McMahon after his trip to Europe.[8] This includes its tiers of continuous balconies with balustrades, large bracket supports for the balconies, steep pitched gable roofs, intersecting gables, two-storey dormers, a lantern cupola, and its brightly contrasting walls.[4][6]
Facilities
The hotel building houses a number of guest rooms as well as two
History
The hotel was constructed between 1926 and 1927 and was built by the
See also
References
- ^ a b c Djuff 1999, p. 41.
- ^ a b c Djuff 1999, p. 48.
- ^ a b "Prince of Wales National Historic Site". Parks Canada. 31 March 2017. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
- ^ a b c "Prince of Wales Hotel National Historic Site of Canada". Canada's Historic Places. Parks Canada. 2018. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
- ^ Djuff 1999, p. 39.
- ^ a b Djuff 1999, p. 40.
- ^ Djuff 1999, p. 42.
- ^ Djuff 1999, p. 52.
- ^ Scott, David; Scott, Kay (4 July 2013). "National Parks: Top upscale lodges". USA Today. Gannett Company. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
- ISBN 978-1-6404-9164-9.
- ^ Byers, Jim (10 July 2015). "Exploring Waterton Lakes, one of Alberta's most under-appreciated national parks". Houston Chronicle. Hearst Corporation. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
- ISBN 1-8947-6556-7.
Further reading
- Djuff, Ray (1999). High on a Windy Hill: The Story of the Prince of Wales Hotel. Rocky Mountain Books Ltd. ISBN 0-9211-0271-2.