Description of Historic Place

The Cook Block is a four storey plus lower level brick building built in two parts and added to over time, with two adjacent but complementary front facades which face West Cordova Street. Its architecture is an eclectic mix of Italianate, Romanesque and Edwardian elements. It is located near the intersection of Abbott and West Cordova Streets 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. The Cook Block is representative of the importance of Gastown as the trans-shipment point between the terminus of the railway and Pacific shipping routes, and the consequent expansion of Vancouver into western Canada's predominant commercial centre in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The Cook Block illustrates the expansion of Gastown's economic activities, beyond warehousing and hotel accommodation, into general commerce. The building's street elevation, which represents its identity as two separate buildings, is a clear indication that commerce was prospering and expanding during the late nineteenth century, necessitating building expansion at a rapid rate.

The Cook Block is an important reminder of Gastown's role, prior to the First World War, as a commercial centre for Vancouver. With the economic boost that came with the arrival of the Canadian Pacific Railway, Gastown evolved from an area of docks and transport-related activities into an active commercial district with shops, offices, and restaurants. The elegant Savoy Restaurant, Vancouver's first excursion into gourmet dining, was located in the Cook Block. These commercial enterprises faced competition from the developing new commercial core at the junction of Granville and Georgia Streets, but such was the significance of Gastown's commerce that they survived until the collapse of the city's economic boom in 1913. This building is important as a demonstration of the type of commercial activity that once existed along West Cordova Street; it is one of few survivors of a sequence of buildings of similar form and massing, housing a wide variety of business activities such as shops, offices, restaurants, theatres, hairdressers, and tailors that once lined Cordova Street.

It is also significant for its direct connection to Edward Cook, pioneer Vancouver contractor, land-owner and developer, who was involved in many projects that helped shape the character of Gastown.

Source: City of Vancouver, Heritage Planning Street Files

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements of the Cook Block include:
- location, in close proximity to the waterfront of Burrard Inlet and the Canadian Pacific Railway yard, with a small passageway to the north side
- siting on the front and side property lines, with no setbacks
- form, scale and massing as expressed by its four storey plus lower level height and flat roof
- consistent architectural details as corbelled brick at the cornice and rough-dressed sandstone columns at the ground floor
- double-hung wood-sash windows on the front facade, most with multi-paned upper sashes
- masonry construction: facade construction of red brick; side and rear facades of common red brick; sandstone trim; and stone foundations
- eastern facade detailing such as rough-dressed sandstone lintels and sills, double-hung windows with original sashes and red brick facade
- western facade detailing such as bay windows on second and third storeys, heavy bracketed cornice between third and upper floor windows, rough-dressed sandstone stringcourses between all storeys and an ogee stone bay window support
- intact early storefront on eastern half, including marble bulkheads, blue and white mosaic tile inset, copper storefront sections and oak door
- surviving interior features such as wooden floors and original room layouts