The Downtown campus of the Vancouver Community College started life as the Vancouver Vocational Institute, designed by a leading local architectural firm of the day, Sharp Thompson Berwick and Pratt. It was one of the earliest examples of the International Style in Vancouver, and the Pender Street façade is still looking much as when Bob Berwick designed the two million dollar building in 1948. On this side of the block, Douglas P Faulkner was the VSB’s supervising architect when a significant expansion of the Vocational Institute took place in 1961.
Here on Dunsmuir Street the façade of the building is quite different from our 1974 ‘before’ image. A 1983 expansion added a new larger structure on the corner with Cambie, and reclad the street wall with reflective glazing. Today the whole building is a heritage structure, although it’s unlikely that redevelopment of this later and heavily altered element would raise many objections.
This part of the Community College was built on the site of the 1892 High School, which in turn was re-purposed as the city’s Art School in the 1930s.
Image source: City of Vancouver Archives CVA 778-68
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Changing Vancouver 