On the far right stands the Westminster Trust Building at 713 Columbia. Constructed between 1911 and 1912, it was the city’s first skyscraper. The Chicago School design features cream-coloured terra cotta and red brick. The pre-war economy was booming enough that the developers added two extra floors to the original six-story plan before breaking ground. It originally offered steam heating, a fireproof steel vault, and electric elevators! The penthouse served as the Westminster Club for nearly a century before closing its doors around 2013.
Standing right next to that early twentieth-century masonry is the Anvil Centre at 777 Columbia. Jay and I have lived along this section of the Fraser River long enough to remember what sat there previously: a sloped, faded section of retail on the old Golden Mile. Completed in the fall of 2014, the new building relies heavily on glass, steel, and limestone. It contains an 84,000-square-foot civic podium that supports a nine-storey, 137,000-square-foot office tower. The architects included some black brick as a token nod to the older red brick next door. It now holds a 364-seat theatre and the local museum; everything radiates from a large 60-foot open atrium.
A full century of civic ambition sits awkwardly but proudly in this single shot. You can appreciate the modern glass and the historic terra cotta all at once, provided you do not get hit by traffic while standing in the middle of the street to get a decent photo.
