page_title: Banff Springs Hotel
section_title: Architecture
hierarchical_section_title: Banff Springs Hotel / Design / Architecture
caption_attribution_description: English: Front view of Banff Springs Hotel
context_page_description: The Fairmont Banff Springs, formerly and commonly known as the Banff Springs Hotel, is a historic hotel located in Banff, Alberta, Canada. The entire town including the hotel, is situated in Banff National Park, a national park managed by Parks Canada. The hotel overlooks a valley towards Mount Rundle, both of which are situated within the Rocky Mountain mountain range. The hotel is located at an altitude of 1,414 metres.
  The hotel opened in 1888 by the Canadian Pacific Railway, as one of the earliest of Canada's grand railway hotels. The hotel property has undergone several stages of growth and redevelopment. The original hotel structure was designed by Bruce Price, with another structure completed in 1914. In 1926, a fire destroyed the original structure on the hotel property, although a replacement structure was later completed in 1928. The building was designated as a National Historic Site of Canada in 1988. The hotel property is presently managed by Fairmont Hotels and Resorts.
context_section_description: Banff Springs Hotel is one of Canada's grand railway hotels built by Canadian Pacific Railway. The present hotel property is made up of two main buildings, an eleven-storey tower, and the main block of the hotel. Designed by Walter S. Painter, construction for the tower building, or the centre wing, began in 1911, and was completed in 1914. The main block of the hotel was erected from 1927 to 1928, and replaced the original wooden hotel destroyed in a fire. The original structure was a five-storey wooden building, able to accommodate 280 guests, was designed by Bruce Price. On 24 June 1988, the hotel buildings were designated as a National Historic Site of Canada.
  After the original wooden structure burnt down in 1926, John W. Orrock, an engineer with Canadian Pacific Railway, was charged with designing its replacement. The replacement building, or the main block, consisted of the north, and south wing. As with the tower added in 1911, the replacement structure is made up of a steel frame, clad in Rundle limestone. Orrock based elements of the new building with the general styles of the original wooden building designed by Price, meaning that the main block also featured elements found on the chateaus of the Loire Valley in France. As a result, the main block features massive wall surfaces, and steep copper roofs, dormers, and gables.
  The original wooden structure, on which the present north and south wing designs are based, featured architectural elements drawn from Scottish baronial architecture, as well as the chateaus of the Loire Valley. This blend of architectural styles would eventually lead to the Châteauesque style used for most of the grand railway hotels in Canada. Châteauesque features found on the building include its steep pitched roofs, pointed dormers, and corner turrets. However, contrasting later Châteauesque hotels built in Canada, Banff Springs Hotel's also draws elements from the Arts and Crafts movement. Elements from this movement include rounded gables, and rough stone masonry used throughout the building. The remains of the burnt building were removed in 1926, in order to make way for the north and south wings.
  The centre wing tower was a large limestone structure, influenced largely by Scottish baronial architecture. The building was designed originally as an extension of the original wooden structure.  Unlike the other wings of the hotel, the centre tower featured almost no French medieval architectural elements. Painter's designs had windows that were rounded, flat dormers as opposed to pointed ones, and rounded arches rather than pointed arches seen in French Gothic architecture. The central wing also featured a Renaissance Revival styled arcade before its first floor lounge.
  The interior of the hotel features oak beams, oak panellings and linenfolds, animal carvings, plasterwork of the ceilings, Terrazzo floors, and stained glasswork. Materials found in the interior include fossil-filled carved Tyndall limestone from Garson, Manitoba, and Bedford lime flagstones on the floors of Mount Stephen Hall, an event room within the hotel.
caption: An early example of a Canadian Châteauesque-styled railway hotel, the building featured steep pitched roofs, ornate dormers, gables, and massive wall surfaces.
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