Description of Historic Place

The Prince Rupert Meat Company Building is a seven storey Edwardian era masonry warehouse building, located on the north side of Water Street in the historic district of Gastown.

Heritage Value

Gastown is the historic core of Vancouver, and is the city's earliest, most historic area of commercial buildings and warehouses. Built in 1912 for a meat packing firm, the Prince Rupert Meat Company Building is representative of the importance of Gastown as the trans-shipment point between the terminus of the railway and Pacific shipping routes, and the consequent development of centralized food distribution networks for the expanding population.

The Prince Rupert Meat Company Building is valued as an unusual example of a warehouse building from the pre-World War One era. Its exceptional height on a very narrow lot is an indication of the pressure to build at a high density on this prime location near the rail lines. As Vancouver prospered, substantial warehouses were built on piles on infilled water lots between Water Street and the Canadian Pacific Railway trestle. The massive cubic form, high density, large clear-span floor-plate and notable height of this structure pushed the limits of building technology, and are a clear indication of the extent and prosperity of wholesale trade during this period.

Source: City of Vancouver, Heritage Planning Street Files

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements of the Prince Rupert Meat Company Building include:
- location on the north side of Water Street, in close proximity to the waterfront of Burrard Inlet and the Canadian Pacific Railway yard
- siting on the property lines, with no setbacks
- spatial relationship to other late Victorian and Edwardian era commercial buildings
- form, scale and massing as expressed in its seven-storey height, flat roof and rectangular plan
- masonry construction: tan high-fire pressed brick on the front facade; concrete window sills; and common red brick side and rear walls
- fenestration: rectangular storefront openings; centre pivot wood-sash windows with transoms on the front facade; and regular window grid on rear facade
- irregular window sizing at different floor levels, indicating varying ceiling heights
- sheet metal cornice above storefront
- heavy timber frame internal structure and floor assemblies