Lodge Enters New Era
New winter entrance created by Portland architecture firm
By Garth Guibord
The Sandy Post, Sep 22, 2009
Workers install the first arch of Timberline's new entrance on Sept. 21st
Timberline Lodge features intricate craftsmanship from small details in handrails to fireplaces all the way to large log beams and stonework.
But the original designers of the historic monument may have overlooked one seemingly obvious problem: how to deal with high amounts of snow at the entrance.
Jon Tullis, director of public affairs at Timberline, said old photographs show the first winter of 1938 at the lodge when workers actually shoveled out the entrance.
The next winter, a mineshaft was built at the entrance.
“If it has a design flaw, that’s it; it wasn’t really contemplated,” Tullis said. “It didn’t have a good entrance.”
In 1956, when current operators RLK and Company purchased Timberline Lodge, a Quonset Hut, made of corrugated metal, made it’s debut as the winter entrance to the building. That temporary entrance has made an appearance every winter since, until now.
This winter, Timberline Lodge will feature a new winter entrance, consisting of 12 aluminum arches covered with translucent polycarbonate panels and designed by the Portland-based architecture firm rhiza A + D.
The exit of an entrance
About five years ago, RLK and Company, the Friends of Timberline, the U.S. Forest Service and the Portland Chapter of the American Institute of Architects cosponsored an international design competition to make a new entrance to the lodge a reality.
More than 20 contenders entered the competition, but one stood out: rhiza A + D.
“They came up with a design here that is really very functional,” said Joachim Grube, the president of the board of directors for the Friends of Timberline, noting rhiza’s design received “by far” the most points.
“At the same time it is elegant because it is trying to emulate a new age snow drift sculpture. It will blend in with the snow.”
A fundraising campaign promptly started after the competition, but Grube said it took time to get going in earnest due to the large number of agencies involved with the project.
The pace quickened in the past two years, and even when the economy started to falter, the project found support.
“We were very fortunate in getting a number of contractors and subcontractors and suppliers to provide in-kind services and contributions for the concrete steps and landings,” Grube said. “It was really a community effort.”
Grube noted the $773,000 in current funds raised and donated in-kind services is expected to finish even higher. This week, workers will erect the new entrance, followed by a ribbon cutting ceremony at 3:45 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 3.
Landmark design
Ean Eldred, a partner with rhiza, said that the firm considered the original design of Timberline Lodge along with the new entrance. While the lodge reflects the permanence of the forest in its stonework and woodwork, the entrance references the “temporary nature of time” of the winter’s snow.
“The original architects from the 1930s had their own interpretation of the lodge,” said Gary Larsen, Mt. Hood National Forest Supervisor in a statement. “Today, we have a new age of fresh thinking architects with their own interpretation. Timberline Lodge is the people’s lodge so the spirit of what people think today is important to how we continue to see the lodge”
And the new entrance “arrives with the snow and disappears with the snow,” said Eldred, who added the firm has never done anything that is a temporary structure intended to be set up and taken down on a regular basis.
The primary materials used for the new entrance, aluminum and polycarbonate, make the structure lightweight and durable, and the designers of the structure see it as a unique structure that’s handcrafted with care.
“That’s the grand story of Timberline Lodge: the effort of people coming together behind an idea and exerting their willingness to problem solve and create lasting beauty,” Eldred said. “I would hope that would be the legacy we leave.”
“It will add a landmark to the landmark,” Grube added.