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314-316 West Cordova Street

314-316 West Cordova Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, V6B, Canada

Formally Recognized: 2003/01/14

314-316 West Cordova Street; City of Vancouver 2004
front facade
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Other Name(s)

314-316 West Cordova Street
Simcoe Rooming House

Links and documents

Construction Date(s)

1905/01/01

Listed on the Canadian Register: 2008/01/18

Statement of Significance

Description of Historic Place

314-316 West Cordova Street is a two-storey late Victorian commercial building in Vancouver's historic Gastown district.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of 314-316 West Cordova Street lies in its relationship with the adjacent buildings and their historic relationship between this area and the economy of early Vancouver. It is associated with Gastown's history in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century as a mixed-use district and the centre for Vancouver's trade and manufacturing. Together they present a cohesive streetscape of streetfront retail.

This mixed-use building was built in 1905. Early tenants included the Simcoe Rooming House catering to the transient population, a 'twine goods' shop was next door and later real estate agents moved in. By 1913, the building was vacant, a victim of the economic crash. A series of tenants followed and retail use continues to today. When the mainstream shopping area moved to the south and east on the former Canadian Pacific Railway lands, suppliers serving a lower-end clientele moved in.

The relatively unadorned two-storey facade is common in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century commercial structures and presents a contrast to the larger buildings with their highly decorated facades to the east on Hastings Street. It also illustrates the evolving public taste in architecture, serving as a bridge from the extensive ornamentation of the early Victorian era to a more restrained decoration of the Edwardian which was to follow.

Source: City of Vancouver Heritage Conservation Program

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements of 314-316 West Cordova Street include:
- modest form, scale and massing
- the functional relationship between this building and its neighbours within the Gastown historic district
- its siting on the property line, with no setbacks
- late Victorian details including stepped parapet, rusticated stone lintel above second level windows, pattern of fenestration including the splayed bays on the second storey, the lower spandrel band which lines up with that of its neighbour at 310 West Cordova Street, splayed recessed shop entry with display windows on either side, all offset to provide access to second floor level
- continued use of ground floor for retail shops

Recognition

Jurisdiction

British Columbia

Recognition Authority

City of Vancouver

Recognition Statute

Vancouver Charter, s.593

Recognition Type

Heritage Designation

Recognition Date

2003/01/14

Historical Information

Significant Date(s)

n/a

Theme - Category and Type

Developing Economies
Trade and Commerce

Function - Category and Type

Current

Commerce / Commercial Services
Shop or Wholesale Establishment

Historic

Architect / Designer

n/a

Builder

n/a

Additional Information

Location of Supporting Documentation

City of Vancouver Heritage Conservation Program

Cross-Reference to Collection

Fed/Prov/Terr Identifier

DhRs-208

Status

Published

Related Places

n/a

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