These days it’s the site of a curious public park, but until the late 1970s this corner was home to The Empire Building, completed in 1889, designed by C O Wickenden and developed by Canadian Pacific Railway surgeon J M Lefevre, a member of the first City Council in 1886. It’s seen here in 1898, when the street was still not fully paved.
It was replaced in 1985 by the privately owned public open space associated with 333 Seymour, a chrome and black glass box that instantly went out of style but shows the era it was designed in more than most Vancouver office buildings. The architects, Tudor & Walters, were the successors to the McCarter Nairne architectural practice that designed the Marine Building and the Main Post Office.
Image source: City of Vancouver Archives Str-P88
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Changing Vancouver 