The Sun Tower is a 17

storey A storey (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) or story (American English), is any level part of a building with a floor that could be used by people (for living, work, storage, recreation, etc.). Plurals for the wor ...

Beaux-Arts building at 128 West Pender Street 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 ...

. It was known for its faux-

patina Patina ( or ) is a thin layer that variously forms on the surface of copper, brass, bronze, and similar metals and metal alloys ( tarnish produced by oxidation or other chemical processes), or certain stones and wooden furniture (sheen prod ...

steel dome painted to imitate copper cladding. In early February 2021 a newly finished roof clad in real penny-coloured copper tiles was revealed. The new roof was a part of restoration work that began on the heritage building in 2018. Nine nude

muses In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, the Muses (, ) were the Artistic inspiration, inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric p ...

, the "nine maidens" supporting the

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative Moulding (decorative), moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, ar ...

line can be seen. The terracotta for this building, including the ladies, was made in Tamworth,

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

, England by Gibbs and Canning Limited.

History

The Sun Tower was commissioned by L. D. Taylor to house his newspaper, '' The Vancouver World''. The intention was that the building would be visible throughout the ''World's'' circulation area as the tallest building in the city. ''John Coughland and Sons'' of Vancouver had 1,250 tons of steel fabricated for construction. When it was completed in 1912, it was called the World Building and was the tallest building in Vancouver at , surpassing the previous record-holder, the

Dominion Building The Dominion Building (originally Dominion Trust Building) is a commercial building in Vancouver, British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwe ...

located just around the corner. For one year, it was the tallest building in Canada, until

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 ...

's 85 metre Canadian Pacific Building opened in 1913. In 1918, droves of Vancouverites turned out to watch as Harry Gardiner, the "Human Fly", scaled the outside of the building. When ''

The Vancouver Sun The ''Vancouver Sun'', also known as the ''Sun'', is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The newspaper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network, and is the larg ...

'' bought the building in 1937, it was renamed. Although ''The Sun'' newspaper has long since relocated, first to South Granville then to Granville Square, the building has retained its name. Formerly 100 West Pender St, the City of Vancouver renumbered the Sun Tower's street address to 128 West Pender in 2011 in accordance with its strict street numbering bylaw when a new building was constructed on the vacant lot at the southwest corner of West Pender and Abbott Streets.

Architecture and materials

The Sun Tower was designed by architect William Tuff Whiteway, who also designed the original Woodward's building nearby. The building takes the form of an eight-storey, L-shaped block, surmounted by a nine-storey hexagonal-section tower. The tower is capped by a Beaux-Arts dome and cupola. The structure of the tower is steel, which is dominantly clad in a combination of

terracotta Terracotta, also known as terra cotta or terra-cotta (; ; ), is a clay-based non-vitreous ceramic OED, "Terracotta""Terracotta" MFA Boston, "Cameo" database fired at relatively low temperatures. It is therefore a term used for earthenware obj ...

tiles and rusticated brickwork. The dome itself, although painted to resemble patinated copper, is steel. The exterior is adorned with nine terracotta

caryatid A caryatid ( ; ; ) is a sculpted female figure serving as an architectural support taking the place of a column or a pillar supporting an entablature on her head. The Greek term ''karyatides'' literally means "maidens of Karyai", an ancient t ...

s supporting the cornice, sculpted by Charles Marega. These apparently caused a minor scandal among some of Vancouver's citizenry at the building's opening, as the female figures are depicted partially clothed, with naked breasts, and were considered to be adopting "sensuous" poses. Further decorative detailing is provided by carved stone sills under all windows, manufactured from local volcanic

andesite Andesite () is a volcanic rock of intermediate composition. In a general sense, it is the intermediate type between silica-poor basalt and silica-rich rhyolite. It is fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic in texture, and is composed predomina ...

from Haddington Island. Haddington Island andesite is also used for some of the decorative carvings near the top of the tower, that feature animal skulls surrounded by garlands of fruit and flowers.

Anchor tenants

* 1912–1917: '' The Vancouver World'' * 1924–1937: Bekins Moving and Storage * 1937–1965: ''

'' * 1968–1996:

Geological Survey of Canada The Geological Survey of Canada (GSC; , CGC) is a Canadian federal government agency responsible for performing geological surveys of the country developing Canada's natural resources and protecting the environment. A branch of the Earth Science ...

* 2001–2005: Navarik * 2009–2016: Victory Square Law Office LLP * 2016–present: IT Glue Software *2022-present: Vancouver Indigenous Justice Centre

Future

It was announced on March 19, 2008, that the Sun Tower had been sold to new owners on March 17. The purchase price was not announced, but the building had a 2008 assessed value of . The new owners promised to restore the heritage building. File:Vancouver Sun Tower Dome Detail.jpg, Dome Detail File:Vancouver Sun Tower Cornice Detail.jpg, Cornice Detail File:Sun Building VPL 27181 (10045793406).jpg, Neon 'Sun' sign and beacon at night (1946) File:SunOne.jpg File:SunOneTwo.jpg

In popular culture

The exterior of the Sun Tower is used in

The CW The CW Network, LLC (commonly referred to as The CW or simply CW) is an American commercial broadcast television network which is controlled by Nexstar Media Group through a 75% ownership interest. The network's name is derived from the firs ...

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their ...

television series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...

Smallville ''Smallville'' is an American superhero fiction, superhero television series developed by writer-producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, based on the DC Comics character Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The series was produce ...

'' to depict the

Watchtower A watchtower or guardtower (also spelt watch tower, guard tower) is a type of military/paramilitary or policiary tower used for guarding an area. Sometimes fortified, and armed with heavy weaponry, especially historically, the structures are ...

, the operational headquarter of

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

Justice League The Justice League, or Justice League of America (JLA), is a group of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (March 1960). Writer Gardner Fox conceived the ...

. In the show, the tower is digitally modified to be a

clock tower Clock towers are a specific type of structure that house a turret clock and have one or more clock faces on the upper exterior walls. Many clock towers are freestanding structures but they can also adjoin or be located on top of another building ...

with six

turret clock A turret clock or tower clock is a clock designed to be mounted high in the wall of a building, usually in a clock tower, in public buildings such as Church (building), churches, university buildings, and town halls. As a public amenity to enab ...

s on its dome and is enhanced to look taller, being the highest building in

Metropolis A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural area for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications. A big city b ...

in certain shots. The exterior was also used as a filming location for '' The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2''.

References

External links

History of Metropolitan VancouverDiscover Vancouver
{{Vancouver landmarks Newspaper headquarters in Canada Commercial buildings completed in 1912 Heritage buildings in Vancouver Beaux-Arts architecture in Canada 1912 establishments in British Columbia Geological Survey of Canada Skyscraper office buildings in Vancouver Federal government buildings in British Columbia