Description of Historic Place

Located in Vancouver's historic Gastown, the Commercial Block at 211 Columbia Street consists of a two-storey brick-and-stone commercial building built in two phases. Set on an irregularly shaped parcel of land, the principal facade of the building is on the west side of Columbia Street, the north side of the building faces Powell Street, and the west (or rear) side of the building abuts the former Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) right-of-way. The historic place includes the building and the disused rail right-of-way.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of the Commercial Block is found in the way in which it contributes to our understanding of Gastown's history, its architecture, and the larger story of construction in Vancouver.

The southern part of the building, comprised of nine bays, was designed by architect William Blackmore and constructed by Hunter Brothers Construction and J. Rogers in 1893. The later three-storey addition to the north, comprised of four bays, was most likely built between 1905 and 1908.

William Blackmore designed many of Vancouver's early commercial blocks, as well as houses, churches, and other public buildings. His design contributes to the heritage value of the building. Much more elaborate than was typical for a commercial block built in Vancouver at the time, it evokes classical architecture. The facade of nine bays, characterized by such features as the projecting brick-and-stone pilasters, is intended to appear as a great colonnade. The addition to the north provides a good example of a typical later commercial block. Much simpler and plainer, it responds to the design aesthetic of its day.

The Hunter brothers, James and Thomas, built numerous homes and smaller commercial blocks in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, helping to shape Vancouver's built environment. Like many others in construction, the Hunter brothers were trained in the trades (Thomas was a carpenter and plasterer). The brothers' partner in construction, J. Rogers, was also a tradesman. Following a model still familiar in Vancouver, Thomas Hunter owned the property, thus combining the role of contractor and developer.

The history of use also contributes to the heritage value of the building. Named the 'Commercial Block', it was initially divided into three sections, each of which featured an electric elevator, the first elevators to be installed in the City. The building served as the offices and warehouses of numerous companies over the years. The building's tenants tended to be, like most others in Gastown, wholesale businesses that depended on access to the railway. These businesses reflected the role of Vancouver in the regional economy as the province's major distribution point. The Commercial Block's list of tenants included the branch offices of businesses based in central Canada.

The date of construction of the first phase of the building reflects the rapid development of Vancouver as the 'Terminal City' following the completion of the transcontinental railway in 1887. The building's location next to the CPR branch line was a strategic business advantage. The physical form of the building, a rough triangle, follows the angle of the railway right-of-way at the rear.

From as early as 1908, part of the building was used by McLennan and McFeely Co. Limited, important hardware merchants, which owned the huge warehouse next door at 55 East Cordova Street. The two buildings were joined in the 1930s by overhead walkways. The differences between the two buildings, including their relative height and scale, provides a visible reminder of the extent to which Vancouver grew in the decades after 1893.

Source: City of Vancouver Heritage Conservation Program

Character-Defining Elements

The heritage character of the Commercial Block lies in the following elements:
- Location at the corner of Columbia and Powell Streets, with the principal facade facing Columbia
- Location adjacent to former Canadian Pacific Railway line
- Vestiges of use by various wholesale companies, such as the internal hoists and shipping doors opening onto the railway right-of-way
- The classical treatment of the facade of the earlier building of nine bays characterized by the classical proportions and such features as the projecting brick and stone pilasters
- The evidence in the parapet of the earlier part of the building of the former positions of classical architectural elements, including decorative finials and scrolls and the building name panel
- The polychromy and texture achieved by the use of horizontal bands of split-faced stone set against red brick
- The contrast between the dark painting of the finished woodwork and the surrounding masonry
- The hierarchy of the deeply recessed windows, that are bay width on the ground floor and set within the bay on the upper floor
- The way the architecture responds to the building's siting on a lane, including the way in which the elements of the principal elevation turn the corner and are repeated for one structural bay, then revert to a more pragmatic treatment of plain brickwork pierced by cambered headed double-hung sash windows
- The differences between the architecture of the earlier and later phases of the building, as seen in characteristics such as the storey height, the number of storeys, the articulation and colour of the brick and stone, and the relative simplicity of the later addition
- The height of the building, both in absolute terms, and in relationship to the buildings around it