Street Photography by Denis Bouvier

The current metamorphosis happening in the block bordered by Georgia, Granville, Robson and Howe St. is the massive reconstruction of the former Sears Building. If you like the Shangri-La, Fairmont Pacific Rim or the Shaw Tower, then you’ll be pleased with the new design Canadian architect James Cheng has for this building. He helped create the architectural style known as Vancouverism, featuring green glass towers.

The new design will replace the featureless white tiles often referred to as a huge urinal wall. There will be glass windows and entrances, which will admit light inside and reflect the outside light, erasing the dull effect of the previous design. It will create a wonderful counterpoint to the black TD tower of the Pacific Centre and highlight Robson Square. It’s the goal of Cheng to create a buoyant structure for the city’s centre which harmonizes with its surroundings.

US retailer Nordstrom will occupy the first three levels; the remaining four levels will be expansive office space with two atriums and a landscaped rooftop. New retail space will be built on the mall level. The new Nordstrom is the first of five planned to be built in Canada. There will be in one Calgary, one in Ottawa and two in Toronto.

The initial metamorphosis of this site occurred with the building of the first Hotel Vancouver by Canadian Pacific in 1888. It had only 60 rooms and was surrounded by forest on all sides. With Vancouver’s rapid development a larger hotel was needed. The second Hotel Vancouver was built in 1916 in a lavish Italianate revival style; at the time, it was considered one of the finest hotels of the British Empire. Unfortunately, it was demolished in 1949 supposedly because it was unsound. From 1949-1969, the site was a parking lot until the construction of the Pacific Centre with the TD Tower and the white-tiled Eaton’s Centre (both designed by Cesar Pelli) completed in 1973.

Nordstrom is slated to open September 2015.

Don Richardson