This 1950s modestly sized west coast modernist building stood on the southeast corner of Burrard and West Pender. It was designed by McCarter and Nairne and named for its tenant, the National Trust (a Montreal based bank). It first appears in the street directory in 1955; before that Johnson’s Motors were located here. Originally there was a 1907 residential building on the corner of West Pender called The Glenwood Rooms, probably designed by Honeyman and Curtis for Mrs E Charleson, which we noted in an earlier post.
This building lasted just under 30 years; today it’s the plaza in front of an office building occupied by Manulife, completed in 1985, designed by Webb Zerafa Menkes Housden Partnership. The National Trust still exists, and occupies offices on the block to the south, but it is now part of Scotiabank.
Image source: City of Vancouver Archives CVA 778-17
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Changing Vancouver 