Statement of Significance
Description of Historic Place
The historic place at 120 Powell Street is a four-storey brick and concrete-framed industrial building designed in the Edwardian Commercial style on Powell Street, in Vancouver's Gastown.
Heritage Value
Built in 1910 to the design of Vancouver architects Dalton and Eveleigh, this building was an extension to the Vancouver depot of UK glass manufacturing firm, Pilkington Brothers (Canada) Ltd. 120 Powell Street is of value for reflecting the success of Pilkington Brothers' corporate strategy to build a chain of suppliers in North America to combat falling exports prompted by the growth of the US plate glass manufacturing industry.
The early use of a concrete frame to achieve large spaces without internal walls speaks to the building's function as receiver, packager, and dispatcher of North American glass orders. The choice of the Powell Street location speaks to the proximity of the commercial district to the port through which Pilkington glass was shipped from the UK. The portside location continued to be important throughout the Second World War when, along with seven other Pilkington depots, Canada received over three million feet of glass each month. The sale of 120 Powell Street in the late 1950s followed the completion of Pilkington's new glass factory on Vancouver's Southeast Marine Drive, designed by architects McCarter Nairne and Partners, and the start of Vancouver's glass manufacturing industry.
The heritage value of 120 Powell Street is amplified by its contribution to the significant Pilkington Glass group arising from the survival of two adjacent structures, both now formally recognized - the Oppenheimer Block at 100 Powell Street, Pilkington's earliest glass warehouse in Vancouver, and 102 Powell Street, built for the firm around 1906.
Source: City of Vancouver Heritage Conservation Program
Character-Defining Elements
The character-defining elements of 120 Powell Street include:
- Location in Vancouver's former commercial district close to the old Port of Vancouver
- Centre-block location on Powell Street
- Massing, including the occupation of the entire lot
- Plain expanses of variegated brick pierced by rows of windows
- Proximity to other structures associated with Pilkington Brothers including the Oppenheimer Block at 100 Powell Street, and the former warehouse at 102 Powell Street
- Materials of construction including the brick, the galvanized iron cornices, the finished woodwork and glass of doors and windows
- The detail of the fenestration on all elevations, including rhythm of window types, expressed sills, the finished woodwork, subdivision of the lights, and the extent of painted surface
- The articulation of the ground floor Powell Street elevation achieved by rustication of the brick courses, punctuation to receive large plate-glass windows, and a former roller shutter vehicle entrance.
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