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Vancouverites had a six-decade love affair with the elegant Birks Building, which was across the street from the second Hotel Vancouver.
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On Nov. 10, 1913, Henry Birks & Co. opened its new $500,000 building at Granville and Georgia streets.
The Province called the 10-storey structure “magnificent,” and it wasn’t hype — it would become one of the most beloved buildings in Vancouver history.
“No trouble or expense was spared to get the best materials and interior fittings that the markets of the world provide for this building,” said a Province story on Nov. 8, 1913. “The exterior to the ninth storey is light, cream-coloured terra cotta, resting on a base of polished British Columbia granite. The 10th storey and the coping (capping) and cornice are carried out in blue and grey terra cotta squares.”
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Oddly, The Province didn’t talk about the building’s defining characteristic, its gently curving corner at Granville and Georgia.
“The curve really showcased the corner, there were beautiful storefront windows so they could have displays of their products,” said heritage expert Don Luxton. “On top of it the interior was spectacular. They had mahogany cases, a beautiful cast plaster ceiling. Just really primo Edwardian classical (architecture), the height of that style.”
The 10,722-square-foot Birks jewelry store was on the main floor, and its mail order business on the second level.
“In the decoration of the store, marble and mahogany have been principally used,” said The Province. “The huge supporting pillars that run throughout the store are of marble highly polished, the floors are of tile, and showcases and walls are of mahogany and plate glass.”
The floors above the store were designed with offices “for discerning tenants.”
“The entrance hall is finished in marble, with a vaulted ceiling of Caen marble,” said The Province. “The upper floors are finished with tile floors, marble wainscotting and baseboards, while the finish of the offices is of oak with floors of British Columbia fir.”
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Five floors of offices were set aside for doctors and dentists, with “special waste pipes conveniently placed in each of the 150 offices on these floors.”
The design was by Somerville and Putnam architects, and no expense seems to have been spared.
“Birks put money into architecture, for sure,” said Luxton. “They did that as part of their image, that they were the classiest jewellers, the most prosperous, the dynasty of the Birks.”
The second Hotel Vancouver went up across the street at the same time, and Luxton said together the buildings “defined that corner as really something quite special, quite spectacular.”
It wasn’t just the buildings that people loved — Birks had a large clock on the corner that generations of Vancouverites used as a meeting spot.
But the second Hotel Vancouver was torn down in 1949, and in 1971, Birks announced it wanted to replace its building with a new skyscraper.
The public rallied to its defence. A committee called Save the Old Building (SOB) sprang up, led by NDP MLA Bob Williams, architect Roger Kemble and University of B.C. professor and architectural historian Harold Kalman.
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Kemble pointed out that the Birks Building “was recently renovated at a cost of $300,000 and is sound.”
“The Birks Building is one of the early ones we’ve got to save,” said Kemble. “We don’t want Granville or Georgia turned into sleek glass-walled highways, like halls of mirrors.”
The fight to save the Birks Building went on for three years. At one point, Vancouver city council asked the province to buy it to save it, but the government said the developer didn’t want to sell.
When it was announced the building was going to be torn down in March 1974, supporters held a mock funeral on Georgia Street. In October 1974, many of its fixtures were sold off, and in January 1975, it was torn down. It was replaced by the 35-storey Scotia Tower.
“We’d never tear it down today,” said Luxton. “It was an act of corporate vandalism. They tore this thing down to build the Scotia Tower? Are you kidding?”
Luxton was so alarmed by the loss of the Birks Building that he became a heritage advocate.
“When I saw the Scoria Tower, that’s when I became interested in preservation.” he said. “That single moment of, ‘Aha, they lied to me. They lied. (The Scotia Tower is) not better.’ ”
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