A Walking Tour of the Architectural History of Chinatown
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The entire tour will take a couple of hours,
beginning at the intersection of Pender and Carrall Streets. If you walk
the tour during business hours, you can browse in shops. Restaurants are
open for lunch and dinner. On crowded Pender Street, architectural
details above street level are difficult to see. A suggestion would be
to view the subject buildings from the opposite side of the street.
Sam Kee Building
8 West Pender Street
Chinatown Vancouver
The Sam Kee Company, one of Chinatown’s wealthiest firms in the early
1900s, bought this land as a standard-sized lot in 1903. In 1912 the
City widened Pender Street, expropriating 24 feet off the front. The
architects Brown and Gillam designed this narrow, 6 foot wide
steel-framed building in 1913. The basement, extending under the
sidewalk, housed public baths; offices and shops were on the ground
floor, and living quarters above. Rehabilitation of the building was by
Soren Rasmussen Architect and completed in 1986. It is the thinnest
building in the world according to the Guinness Book of Records.
Shanghai Alley
Due west of Carrall and Pender Streets
Chinatown Vancouver
Responding to pressure from white merchants on Hastings Street, Chinese
businesses moved south of Pender Street along Carrall Street a�er 1904.
Many of the new buildings had double fronts, one side opening onto
Carrall Street and the other onto Shanghai Alley. Eventually
restaurants, stores, a theatre and several tenements crowded the narrow
alley. A similar alley, Canton Alley, ran parallel one block west.
Canton Alley and much of Shanghai Alley were demolished in the 1940s
when non-Chinese industries began squeezing into the older, western edge
of Chinatown. A portion of Shanghai Alley is re-instituted as part of a
housing and commercial development planned for this site.
Chinese Freemasons Building
1 West Pender Street
Chinatown Vancouver
Buildings in Chinatown blend Chinese and Western architectural
treatments, sometimes in subtle ways. This 1901 building shows
Chinese-influence recessed balconies along the Pender Street facade.
Chinatown and Gastown were connected by Carrall Street; this facade is
more convetional without recessed balconeys. The Chee Kung Tong (CKT)
purchased the building in 1907 and was a powerful society that supported
the 1911 Chinese rebellion led by Dr. Sun-Yat Sen. The CKT mortgaged
this building to raise money for his cause. In 1920 the CKT changed its
name to the Chinese Freemasons and became associated with the be�er-known
Freemasons Society.
Chinese Times Building
1 East Pender Street
Chinatown Vancouver
The Wing Sang Company commissioned prominent Vancouver architect W.T.
Whiteway to design this building in 1902. He incorporated a mezzanine
above the first floor, and seven oriel windows on the top floor. The
Chinese Times newspaper had been published in Chinatown since 1914, and
in this building between 1939 and 1994, when it ceased operation due to
the introduction of Hong Kong-based daily newspapers in Vancouver.
Chinese Cultural Centre
50 East Pender Street
Chinatown Vancouver
The Chinese Cultural Centre is an ambitious project that reflects
Chinatown’s continuing importance for Vancouver’s Chinese-Canadians.
Opened in 1981, the Cultural Centre houses classrooms, meeting rooms,
exhibition space, an activity hall, a bookstore and a reading room.
Yue Shan Society Headquarters
33–37 East Pender Street
Chinatown Vancouver
W.H. Chow, the architect of this building erected in 1920, managed to
surmount both the legal and the informal hurdles that prevented most of
Vancouver’s early Chinese from entering professions. Chow designed
several other Chinatown buildings, including Ming’s restaurant at
141–147 East Pender, which has been extensively altered over the years.
Wing Sang Building
51–67 East Pender Street
Chinatown Vancouver
This group of structures was built over a 12-year period. The part
inscribed “1889” is the oldest building in Chinatown. The brick addition
and third floor were built in 1901 and designed by architect T.E.
Julian. The Wing Sang Company prospered by supplying contract labourers,
selling tickets for the CPR’s steamship lines and operating a herring
plant in Vancouver. Yip Sang, the owner, is credited with founding the
city’s first Chinese hospital.
New Sun Ah Hotel
100 East Pender Street
Chinatown Vancouver
The Sun Ah Hotel’s 48 rooms on the top three storeys were lodgings for
Chinese labourers early in the twentieth century. The building, built in
1910 with additions in 1911, was designed by R.T. Perry and White and
Cockrill. The ground floor is home to Foo’s Ho-Ho the last of the
“village-style” Cantonese restaurants from the late 1940s
Chinese Benevolent Association
108 East Pender Street
Chinatown Vancouver
This building was completed in 1909 and is home to the Chinese
Benevolent Association (CBA). With its stone fire walls, imposing four
storeys plus pediment wall, and recessed balcony with ornate wrought
iron railings, the CBA building played a symbolic and practical role
within the Chinatown community. Organized in Victoria in the late
nineteenth century to represent the Chinese to the larger community, the
CBA led protests against repressive legislation, provided for
Chinatown’s poor during hard times, and sponsored Chinese-language
schools.
Wong’s Benevolent Association
123 East Pender Street
Chinatown Vancouver
A mutual assistance association based on a common surname, the Wong
Benevolent Association built this structure in 1921 as their
headquarters. The architects, J.A. Radford and G.L. Southall,
significantly altered an existing 1910 building by demolishing the top
floor for the new addition. Since 1925 children have attended
after-school Chinese language classes on the second floor. In 1947, the
school began offering the first high school-level Chinese classes in
Canada. Look for the the stained glass window incorporating Chinese
characters. The building was designed by architects .
Lee Building
129–131 East Pender Street
Chinatown Vancouver
Another surname association headquarters, the Lee Building was built in
1907 and gu�ed by fire in 1972. Architects Henriquez and Todd preserved
the original façade as a free-standing screen and built a new structure
behind it.
Chin Wing Chun Society
160 East Pender Street
Chinatown Vancouver
Constructed in 1925 as headquarters for a surname association, this
building demonstrates the blending of influences in Chinatown’s
architecture. The architect, R. A. McKenzie, who practiced for more than
five years in northern China, incorporated the recessed balconies common
to tropical southern China in the building design. However, the crowning
pediment supported by columns is pulled from the classical Western
tradition.
Van City Credit Union
178 East Pender Street
Chinatown Vancouver
This building served as branch for the Bank of Montreal from its
completion in 1971 to 1992, before it relocated next door. With a
recessed balcony, broken roof line and ornamental dragons, the design by
architects Birmingham and Wood is an early a�empt to fit in with the
revitalized streetscape.
Canadian Bank of Commerce
501 Main Street
Chinatown Vancouver
Built in an eclectic neo-Renaissance style typical of Shanghai’s Bund,
this branch of the Bank of Commerce designed by V.D. Horsburgh was
completed in 1915. Note the presence of the caduceus, a winged staff
with entwined snakes, as a decorative element on the front of the
building. This emblem, the symbol of medicine, was also a popular symbol
of commerce.
Carnegie Centre
401 Main Street
Chinatown Vancouver
This monumental Romanesque design with a domed and pillared porch was
designed by G.W. Grant and built with the assistance of Andrew Carnegie
funds to house Vancouver’s public library in 1902-03. In 1957, the
library relocated to Burrard Street and the Vancouver Museum, and City
Archives used the building until they moved into new quarters in Vanier
Park in 1968. The building was then converted to a community centre for
the residents of the Downtown Eastside by architects Downs/Archambault
in 1978-79.
Kuomintang Building
296 East Pender Street
Chinatown Vancouver
Clubs and associations in Chinatown mirrored changes in China’s
politics. The Kuomintang (KMT, or Chinese Nationalist League) built this
as its western Canadian headquarters. The KMT supported Dr. Sun-Yat Sen,
the 1911 rebellion, and the rebel government in southern China, where so
many of Chinatown’s immigrants had lived. During World War I, the
northern Chinese Manchu Government persuaded its ally, Canada, to ban
the KMT. The ban was li�ed in 1919 and this building was constructed the
following year to the design prepared by W. E. Sproat.
Hongkong Bank of Canada Building
600 Main Street
Chinatown Vancouver
The Hongkong Bank of Canada is the prime tenant in this building
designed by Wing Ting Leung Architects and opened in 1996. It includes
many traditional architectural features such as a recessed balcony and
heavy cornice, and an unusual round corner element. The construction of
the building was welcomed as an indication of confidence in the future
of Chinatown despite recent years of economic uncertainty.
Chinatown Plaza
180 Keefer Street
Chinatown Vancouver
In response to competition from “new Chinatowns” in the suburbs, the
merchants of historic Chinatown sought to a�ract shoppers through the
construction of this 950-space parkade. Designed by Joe Wai Architects,
the parkade has traditional features such as brick construction and a
red-tile roof. The 1000-seat Floata Seafood Restaurant is a major
attraction.
Chinese Cultural Centre/Museum and Archives Building
555 Columbia Street
Chinatown Vancouver
The Museum and Archives Building is situated on the north-east corner of
the Chinese Cultural Centre complex and is another building designed by
Vancouver-based architect Joe Wai. It was officially opened in 1998.
Dr. Sun-Yat Sen Classical Chinese Garden
578 Carrall Street
Chinatown Vancouver
The Dr. Sun-Yat Sen Classical Garden, designed by architect Joe Wai and
landscape architect Don Vaughan, was completed in 1985. Built by
artisans from China employing traditional techniques and materials, it
is the first full-size classical Chinese garden outside of China. The
entrance to the public side of the walled garden is accessed off
Columbia Street. One may also experience a guided tour of the
architectural component of the garden upon payment of an admission fee;
this entrance is off Carrall Street. |
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