Scotia Tower is a 35-storey office tower in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

built for the

Bank of Nova Scotia The Bank of Nova Scotia (), operating as Scotiabank (), is a Canadian multinational banking and financial services company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. One of Canada's Big Five banks, it is the third-largest Canadian bank by deposits and ...

. The project was announced in 1971, construction began in 1974, and the building opened officially on 8 June 1977. Architects for the project were Zebb Zerafa and Menkès of

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

. The building was constructed concurrently with Scotia Centre in Calgary, and the designs of the two towers followed similar concepts. The Scotia Tower was a controversial building at the time of its construction, as the project involved the demolition of the historic Birks Building and Allen/Strand Theatre.

History

The 15th tallest building in the city, it stands at 138 m or 35 storeys tall and completed in 1977 and is a landmark skyscraper near the end of the central business district. The building houses

Scotiabank The Bank of Nova Scotia (), operating as Scotiabank (), is a Canadian multinational corporation, multinational banking and financial services company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. One of Canada's Big Five (banks), Big Five banks, it is the ...

operations for

and the underground Vancouver Centre, with its various shops and attendant street retail and theatres. The malls are linked to

Pacific Centre Pacific Centre (officially CF Pacific Centre since 2015) is a shopping mall located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is owned by Cadillac Fairview, the Ontario Pension Board, and the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board, and is man ...

and Hudson's Bay and a SkyTrain subway station via subterranean passages beneath Georgia and Granville Streets. The Georgia and Granville corner of the site was the former location of the Birks Store in Vancouver, an ornate Edwardian edifice that was torn down in 1974 to make way for construction of the Scotia Tower and Vancouver Centre. Birk's was the first tenant in the new corner-retail location after the centre's construction but has since moved to Granville and West Hastings; that location is now the main downtown store of London Drugs. The decision to demolish the Birks Building sparked outrage and protest when it was announced in 1971. New Democratic Party MLA

Robert Arthur Williams Robert Arthur Williams (January 20, 1933 – July 7, 2024) was a Canadian consultant and political figure in British Columbia. He represented Vancouver East in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia from 1966 to 1976 and from 1984 to 19 ...

started the Save Our Birks Building Committee and served as its chairman. Williams said, "it's not good enough to have Toronto or some eastern developer tell us what the heart of our city should be."Aileen Campbell, "Fans fight for Birks Building," ''The Province'', (23 July 1971), 13. The committee also included Dr Harold D. Kalman, a professor of art history at the University of British Columbia. The Georgia Street side of the Scotia Tower-Vancouver Centre was the location of the old Strand Theatre, the only one of Vancouver's Theatre Row not directly on Granville Street. That movie house was later replaced by the Vancouver Centre Cinemas (now closed) in 1977.

References

* Skyscraper office buildings in Vancouver Shopping malls in Metro Vancouver Buildings and structures completed in 1977 Bank buildings in Canada Modernist architecture in Canada Scotiabank {{vancouver-stub

History

See also

References