| Dominion Building | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Alternative names | Dominion Trust Building |
| General information | |
| Type | Commercial offices |
| Architectural style | Second Empire |
| Location | 207 West Hastings Street Vancouver, British Columbia |
| Coordinates | 49°16′57″N 123°06′36″W / 49.2825°N 123.11°W / 49.2825; -123.11 |
| Construction started | 1906 |
| Completed | 1910 |
| Height | |
| Roof | 44.8 m (147 ft) |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 13 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect(s) | J.S. Helyer and Son |
| References | |
The Dominion Building (originally Dominion Trust Building) is a commercial building in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Located on the edge of Gastown (207 West Hastings St), it was Vancouver's first steel-framed high-rise. Its architect was John S. Helyer, who is said to have died after falling off the staircase in the front of the building, though this is an urban legend.
The financiers of the structure was the Count Alvo von Alvensleben from Germany, who were active in Vancouver's financial scene at the time. It was known generally that von Alvensleben was one of the Kaiser's godsons. It was held at the time that he was a front for the Kaiser's money, which carried the suggestion that the Empire's tallest building had been built by its greatest rival, a rumour which disregards the fact that the tallest building in the Empire was in fact the Trader’s Bank Building in Toronto, completed in 1906 at 55.39m in height.
Today it is a provincially designated Class "A" heritage structure.
Owned by Newton Investments Limited, it was restored by restoration expert Read Jones Christofferson. The building's current tenants include a film production company (Haddock), a law firm, clothing designers, record labels, antiquarian booksellers, Kokoro Dance, professional web developers, marketing agency, Bowery Creative, the office of the Green Party of Vancouver, a dentist, non-profit organizations such as Living Oceans Society and Fair Trade Vancouver and a Lebanese restaurant, Nuba.
The Dominion Building sits across the street from Victory Square, site of the former provincial courthouse, which was relocated to Georgia Street in 1913. The Dominion Building was at the hub of the city's financial and legal district until that move.
The backside of the building (containing the emergency staircases) and Cambie Street was filmed during the street scenes of The Neverending Story. It can be seen from Water Street.
The Dominion Building can also be seen at the end of Jennifer Lopez's 2023 film,The Mother, as she looks down into Victory Square from the 14th floor, nearing the end of the film.
The Dominion Building, as well as other elements of Victory Square, were filmed for scenes in an abandoned city in Battlestar Galactica.
The initial rooftop chase scene from Blade: Trinity was shot at the Dominion building.
The 2012 TV show Alcatraz also used this as a location in the opening episode, although the program was set in San Francisco, much of the location work was done in Vancouver. The Dominion building can also be seen in the background later in the series when a landmine is found in Victory Square.
Can Lit. author Timothy Taylor. maintains a writing office in this building.
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Entrance
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Lobby
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View north from Victory Square
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The Dominion Building in 1915
See also
- List of tallest and other historical buildings in Vancouver
- Woodward's 43 - a nearby skyscraper echoing the design of the Dominion Building.
References
- "Emporis building ID 113266". Emporis. Archived from the original on March 7, 2016.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - "Dominion Building". SkyscraperPage.
- "Dominion Building". ssp. 2011. Retrieved 9 November 2011.
- City of Vancouver's plaque on the building, photo visible here
- Helyer was in partnership with his son, Maurice, as J.S. Helyer & Son (Blue Plaque; the firm also erected the building housing the Vancouver Stock exchange at 148 West Hastings Street (1908) (now "Regal Place"), the ten-storey Metropolitan Building on Hastings Street (1911-12), and the Board of Trade building at Homer and Cordova, (1909), using poured-in-place concrete; Maurice Helyer built the Medial Arts Building on Granville Street (1922-23), according to Au Petit Chavignol Archived April 30, 2010, at the Wayback Machine in another Maurice Helyer building, at 845 East Hastings.
- Emporis Building Database
In television and film
In The NeverEnding Story (film), Building is seen in closing scene, when Bastian is flying with Falkor, to get some revenge over the kids.
