Architecture

Mid-century accommodations The Burrard Motor Inn, centrally located in downtown Vancouver across from St. Read more…

Mid-century Danish Modern If you like Scandinavian mid-century modern then you’ll definitely want to visit By Design Modern, Western Canada’s largest purveyor of vintage Danish Modern furniture. Read more…

Vintage mid-century antiques Voted best vintage/retro furniture store in Vancouver (2015) by readers of the Georgia Straight, this fun, busy Main Street location is packed so full of mid-century treasures… Read more…

Modernist home furnishings If you want high end mid-century classics from the likes of Herman Miller, Knoll or Artimide, look no further than Inform Interiors in historic Gastown. Read more…

Vintage mid-century antiques This jam-packed shop has been providing Vancouverites with a great assortment of vintage mid-century furniture, home accessories and collectable items since 1988; long before it was trendy… Read more…

Mid-century vintage fashion Located on the north end of the wonderfully bohemian Commercial Drive, this busy shop is overflowing with a large and varied collection of hand-picked vintage men & women’s… Read more…

Mid-century/contemporary furniture Owner Richard Domenco offers Vancouverites a little bit of New York SoHo at his West 4th Avenue location in Kitsilano, and by that we mean his space has a… Read more…

Mid-century vintage fashion Billed as the largest vintage clothing store in Canada, what better place than upscale Robson Street to showcase this diverse collection of retro “couture” dating back to… Read more…

495 W Georgia St, Vancouver, BC V6B 1Y0 Mid-century postal buildings Occupying an entire city block in Vancouver’s downtown core, the currently decommissioned General Post Office was designed by John… Read more…

Mid-century residential buildings Before 1956 if you’d wanted to build an 18-story waterfront tower in Vancouver’s residential West End it wasn’t possible, but adjustments to the city zoning regulations by a progressive City… Read more…

Mid-century buildings The campus at the University of British Columbia is a modernist’s dream, so pack a lunch and spend an afternoon getting schooled. Read more…

Mid-century modern buildings & art Beautifully rendered in precast white concrete and perhaps representing the forward thinking optimism of 1960s space exploration (is it a spaceship?), the H.R. Read more…

Mid-century art/mid-century banks Tucked away above rows of greeting cards inside a busy downtown Vancouver drugstore at Granville & Dunsmuir streets endures a visually gripping mid-century mosaic mural by renowned Canadian artist &… Read more…

Mid-century office buildings Designed by architects Ron Thom & Ned Pratt (1955-1957) to house the B.C. Read more…

Mid-century residential buildings From streamline moderne to dingbats to high-rises (including the Ocean Towers) and everything in between, the seventeen square block area “West of Denman” – bordered by Stanley Park,… Read more…

Mid-century modern buildings As construction boomed in the post-war years so too did the number of places to worship. Read more…

Mid-century modern buildings When called upon to design a new downtown office building in the early 1960s, rather than go full-on high-rise, architect Gerald Hamilton designed a more intimate 8-story… Read more…

Mid-century residential buildings The waterfront block of Argyle Ave. and its surrounding area – especially Bellevue Avenue – between 21st and 22nd Streets in the Dundarave/Ambleside area of West Vancouver was rezoned… Read more…

Brutalist buildings Located at the University of British Columbia, the Museum of Anthropology is world renowned for its collection of Northwest Coast First Nations art and artifacts and is definitely… Read more…

Tiki Culture/Polynesian Pop If you’re a Tikiphile and looking to get your Polynesian Pop on, Vancouver has a couple of options… The Shameful Tiki Room (4362 Main Street ) – Situated in… Read more…

Mid-century/brutalist buildings Built in 1967 on the grounds of Exhibition Park – home to Hastings Racetrack, Playland and the Pacific National Exhibition – the Pacific Coliseum is an exercise in… Read more…

West coast modernist houses Following the completion of the Lions Gate Bridge by Monsarrat & Pratley in 1937 – which linked Vancouver to the North Shore – residential construction in the… Read more…

Mid-century modern buildings Located in downtown Vancouver just blocks from Coal Harbour hangs – yes, hangs! – one of the city’s most iconic late-1960s structures, the West Coast Transmission Building.… Read more…

Mid-century/brutalist buildings A series of low lying, linear, Brutalist structures so well integrated into their surroundings atop Burnaby Mountain that one might think they were placed there centuries ago by… Read more…

Mid-century modern buildings Vancouver Fire & Rescue currently has twenty-two Fire Halls serving the city, a handful of which were built (or, rebuilt) during the 1950s and 60s. Here’s a quick… Read more…

Mid-century modern buildings/plaza The best thing about this downtown mid-1970s Miesian office building’s namesake is its plaza. Read more…

Mid-century modern buildings The North Vancouver City Hall is a great example of how to save a vintage building through restoration, renovation and repurposing while also using recycled and natural… Read more…

Mid-century modern buildings & art Currently home to the Vancouver Opera and Ballet BC, the Queen Elizabeth Theatre (1959) was the result of an international architectural competition held by the… Read more…

Mid-century heritage Not only is the Museum of Vancouver a great place to learn about the city’s heritage, but it’s also located inside one of Vancouver’s most jaw-droppingly awesome mid-century… Read more…

Mid-century modern buildings & art Distinctive for its ocean green rectangular enamel panels that alternate with its glass facade, the Guinness Tower was designed by Charles Paine, circa 1967-69, and… Read more…

Mid-century modern buildings Wanting to create a functional space that would house a downtown electrical substation as well as double as public art, BC Electric’s chief in the early 1950s,… Read more…

Mid-century modern buildings Located at Vanier Park – a few minutes walk from the modernist H.R. Read more…

Mid-century modern buildings The Canadian Pacific Telecommunications Centre (currently occupied by Allstream) was the first mid-century modern structure to go up in Vancouver’s Historic Gastown, a district better known for… Read more…

Mid-century modern buildings Designed by CBK Van Norman in 1955, the Burrard Building was the first office high rise to go up in downtown Vancouver using new post-war modernist design… Read more…

Mid-century modern buildings Designed by Percy Underwood and completed in 1961, the Vancouver Parks Board offices are comprised of three low lying linked buildings finished with natural stone, Douglas fir… Read more…

Mid-century modern buildings/art Located at Queen Elizabeth Park, the Bloedel Conservatory’s triodetic dome consists of over 1400 acrylic bubbles and an aluminum frame supported by a Brutalist concrete perimeter; the… Read more…

Mid-century modern buildings & art Located along Vancouver’s downtown Burrard Street corridor, the Bentall Centre holds a bank pavilion and four towers (housing established businesses and law offices) which were… Read more…

Mid-century modern buildings Within a few blocks of each other in downtown Vancouver are a handful of nice mid-century structures originally built to house the Western headquarters for some of… Read more…

Vintage diners & restaurants Restaurants come and go, in foodie-centric Vancouver especially, which is why it’s nice to see a handful of mid-century joints still doing what they do best.… Read more…

Mid-century residential buildings Located southwest of downtown and bordered by the waterfront, Georgia Street, Burrard Street and Denman Street – although historically, everything “West of Denman” is also considered the West End… Read more…

Mid-century modern buildings 750 17th St, West Vancouver, BC, V7V 3T3 The District Municipality of West Vancouver‘s Municipal Hall has been an iconic landmark since its design and construction by… Read more…

Mid-century vintage fashion Don’t let the small entrance fool you, for inside this former hardware store lies over 3,000 square feet of vintage mid-century attire that might just blow your… Read more…

Mid-century & vintage collectibles For nearly 40 years, Bob & Linda Blaise have been peddling an eclectic collection of vintage wares not only to the public, but also to top… Read more…

Mid-century brutalist buildings Designed in 1965 by noted architect Arthur Erickson (along with Geoffrey Massey) for the Canadian forestry company of the building’s original namesake, MacMillan Bloedel, the two offset… Read more…

Mid-century brutalist buildings Designed by noted architect Arthur Erickson in 1973 for the province’s Court of Appeal and Supreme Court, this stunning concrete and glass brutalist monument was originally designed… Read more…