Dominion Building
Architects: J.S. Helyer & Son
This ornate Beaux-Arts skyscraper was commissioned by Imperial Trust in 1901 but opened in 1910 as the Dominion Trust Building after this assumed the debt and completed construction. It was the tallest commercial building in the British Empire at that time, topped out at 13 storeys. The striking red and yellow terracotta exterior is capped by a three-storey Mansard roof reminiscent of the late 19the century Parisian townhouses. It was the finest building of the architects’ careers and a major city landmark for decades. With the other Edwardian-era buildings rimming ‘Government Square,’ it formed Vancouver’s commercial centre before World War I. The building was to be remodeled in the 1940s to accommodate the Army & Navy department store: the plan never materialized, and its exterior features of marble wainscoting, terrazzo flooring, oak woodwork and a decorative ten-storey spiral staircase remain intact.