Description of Historic Place

The Des Brisay Block is a seven storey Edwardian era commercial brick-faced structure located on the south 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 for wholesale grocer Albert Des Brisay, the Des Brisay Block is valued as an early Gastown hotel, representative of the area's seasonal population in the early twentieth century, as Vancouver emerged as western Canada's predominant commercial centre. Hotels such as this provided both short and long term lodging, serving primarily those who worked in the seasonal resource trades such as fishing and logging. Many of these hotels had combined functions of commercial services on the ground floor and lodging rooms on the upper floors, which contributed to the lively street life in Gastown. This building is clearly articulated by function, with a commercial lower floor that housed Des Brisay's grocery business, and hotel use on the upper floors.

The Des Brisay Block is valued for its architecture as a fine example of the Edwardian style from the early twentieth century, illustrating how popular architectural styles were used by the hotel business to market a progressive image. It is significant as an early design in Vancouver by architects Sharp and Thompson, who had established their Vancouver practice in 1908. Both trained in London, England, G.L.T. Sharp (1880-1974) and C.J. Thompson (1878-1961) were among the few in Vancouver at the time with architectural credentials, and they brought a sophistication to this building that is typical of their work. The year after this building was designed they won the open competition for the new University of British Columbia. It was designed as an identical block to the adjacent Thompson Rooming House, built the following year.

Source: City of Vancouver, Heritage Planning Street Files

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements of the Des Brisay Block include its:
- location, 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 within the historic context of Gastown
- form, scale and massing as expressed by its seven storey height, flat roof and rectangular plan
- articulated mixed commercial/residential use
- masonry construction, including: tan brick cladding on the front facade; terra cotta block cladding on the lower two levels of the front facade; and common red brick on the side and rear facades
- fenestration: original wood-sash fenestration at the second floor front facade, with large fixed panes with paired transoms above; double-assembly double-hung 1-over-1 wood-sash windows with central vertical mullions on the front facade, from the third to seventh floors; and irregular rear facade fenestration, with multiple-assembly double-hung 1-over-1 wood-sash windows
- stepped brick parapet at front
- sheet metal cornices below third floor windows, between sixth and seventh floors, and at parapet level
- side entry to upper floors with granite threshold and mosaic tile flooring
- original interior features such as the open staircase, wooden balustrades. plaster walls and wooden door and window trim