It currently operates as a gift shop and observation station for visitors, with telescopes on its outdoor terrace.

It is one of six buildings at the Grand Canyon that were designed by architect Mary Colter, along with Bright Angel Lodge, Hermit's Rest, Hopi House, Phantom Ranch, and Desert View Watchtower.

Lookout Studio employs her signature rustic style of using jagged native rocks to imitate indigenous structures of the region and to blend in with the environment.

The walls rise to an irregular parapet which incorporates the building's chimneys.

[2][1] Hopi House and the Lookout Studio are also major contributing structures in the Grand Canyon Village National Historic Landmark District.