Description of Historic Place

The historic place consists of a tall, narrow, four-storey structure, with rooms on the upper three floors and retail space on the ground floor, located at 218 Keefer Street on the northern edge of Vancouver's historic Chinatown.

Heritage Value

Built in 1912, perhaps speculatively, by owners/designers/contractors Rogers and McKay, this building's heritage value is derived from its representative use and architecture. Like many other buildings in Chinatown, and the downtown area more generally, retail shops are located on the ground floor with small rooms or apartments located above. Over time the retail shops have changed, but the upper floors have been used continuously for housing since the building was constructed. In fact, the use of the site for housing predates the construction of the building. The existing building represents an intensification of density through the addition of height and the use of the entire lot. This adds to the overall heritage value.

The character of the housing is also an important aspect of the heritage value since it tells us about the type of accommodation available to poor Vancouverites in the 20th century. Up until 1974, this building contained 74 rooms. In the typical single-room occupancy facility, each room is approximately 10x10, residents share bathroom and, sometimes, cooking facilities. The number of rooms in this building was reduced to 45 in 1975; many single-room occupancy facilities reduced the number of rooms in the 1970s as a result of stricter by-law enforcement and urban renewal projects.

Additional heritage value is found in the use of the building by both Japanese and Chinese people. During the 1920s and 30s, there was a Japanese grocery on the ground floor and Japanese people occupied the rooms, suggesting that the ethnic composition of Chinatown, at least along the edges, was not homogenous.

One of the ground floor uses is also of heritage value: in the 1930s the building contained baths. This was a common feature of working class neighbourhoods in many communities where people did not have access to their own bathrooms. It may also reflect traditions of communal bathing in the Japanese and Chinese communities.

Source: City of Vancouver Heritage Conservation Program

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements of 218 Keefer Street include:
- Location at the northern edge of historic Chinatown
- Height of the building, especially relative to its neighbours, and use of the whole lot by the building
- Cornice and the brick detailing below the cornice
- Bay windows with one-over-one sash windows; and arrangement of windows within the bay on the upper three floors and the external details of the bay
- Side entrance and large sign advertising 'Rooms'
- Use of the upper floors for housing
- Use of the ground floor for retail purposes