Description of Historic Place

The Province Building is a seven-storey Edwardian Classical Revival commercial building at the corner of West Hastings and Cambie Streets in Vancouver, adjacent to Victory Square.

Heritage Value

The value of the Province Building lies in its location near the centre of commerce around the turn of the twentieth century. From about 1907 on, construction of prestige office and bank buildings occurred at an unprecedented pace in Vancouver. Despite outward appearances of earlier design, they were among the most advanced buildings of their time. Their structural systems used steel girders and concrete, making the Province Building one of the first tall buildings in the area.

Built in 1908-09 as one of the first tall buildings in the area by architects Alfred Arthur Cox and Louis August Amos for Francis Carter-Cotton, this building was the first home of the News-Advertiser newspaper, noted as the first newspaper in Canada to be printed by electrically-driven presses. Francis Carter-Cotton, the publisher of the News-Advertiser, was an MLA from 1890-1910, Minister of Finance from 1898-1900 and Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works from 1899-1900. The Province, which started as a Victoria newspaper, began publishing in Vancouver in 1898 under the management - and later the ownership - of Walter Cameron Nichol. When the News-Advertiser floundered, Nichol absorbed it, acquiring ownership of the building as well. The Southam family purchased the newspaper and the building in 1923; it continued to be the home of the Daily Province until 1960. In 1924, a bridge was built over the rear alley linking the Province Building to the Edgett Building where the printing presses were located. The name "Daily Province" can still be seen over the main entrance.

In addition to the newspaper, the building also housed real estate agents, insurance brokers, engineers, the Kettle Valley Railway Company, architects, the Bank of Nova Scotia, the Salvation Army, and now a film school. The variety of uses illustrates the evolution of the building through changes in the economic cycle as the financial core moved to the south and east, opening the way for different types of tenants.

There is also value in the building's Edwardian Classical Revival style. The stone arches and decorated parapet compliment the relatively plain intermediate storeys whose pier-and-spandrel brick treatment increases the sense of height. The fine interior finishes indicate that the building was intended as a high-end office; many of the original features are still intact. The building remains a focal point on the east side of Victory Square.

Source: City of Vancouver Heritage Conservation Program

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements of the Province Building include:
- rectangular form and massing and substantial scale
- its relationship with other buildings within the West Hastings Street strip and adjoining neighbourhoods
- built right to the lot line with no setbacks
- siting on a prominent corner location
- characteristics of the Edwardian Classical Revival style including: stone trim and arches, decorated parapet, ground floor brackets, pier-and-spandrel treatment of intermediate storeys, deep cornice with dentils, pattern of fenestration, and gilt lettering 'Daily Province' over the Hastings Street entrance
- interior details, such as marble floors and walls, and interior finishes including plaster mouldings