Dominion building

The Dominion Building, Vancouver's first steel-framed highrise

With its yellow and red colours and its old-world charisma, the Dominion Building is one of the most emblematic buildings in Vancouver. Located on the edge of Gastown, it was the city's first steel-framed highrise. The Vancouver audio-guided tour stops here to evoke the beginnings of verticality in the Canadian metropolis.

A thirteen-storey Beaux-Arts building

Located at 207 West Hastings Street, on the edge of Gastown, the Dominion Building is a thirteen-storey Beaux-Arts commercial structure. It was the first steel-framed highrise in Vancouver, a technical feat for its time. Its colourful outline and its refined architecture make it a major witness of the city's rise at the beginning of the twentieth century.

What to see

The yellow-and-red façade and the Beaux-Arts style of the building immediately catch the eye, on the edge of Gastown. The Dominion Building illustrates Vancouver's ambition and the arrival of the first skyscrapers in the city. It is mainly admired from the outside, as one of the finest witnesses of early twentieth-century architecture in the downtown.

Practical information

The Dominion Building lies at 207 West Hastings Street, on the edge of Gastown, in Vancouver, reachable on foot and by public transport. It is a working building: the façade can be freely admired from the street, access inside depending on its current uses. It is discovered during a walk in the historic district.

Why is the Dominion Building important?

Because it was the first steel-framed highrise in Vancouver, a thirteen-storey Beaux-Arts building located on the edge of Gastown.

Where is the Dominion Building?

At 207 West Hastings Street, on the edge of the historic Gastown district, in Vancouver.