Description of Historic Place
The CFB Esquimalt, Dockyard, Aldergrove Building, DY 199, located on an outcropping of land overlooking Juan de Fuca Strait, is a three-storey building designed in the International Style. The wall surfaces are stucco and uniformly white, with horizontal bands of windows. Tall vertical windows express the presence of the stairwells and a railing along the flat roof gives the building the look of a vessel. The designation is confined to the footprint of the building.
Heritage Value
The CFB Esquimalt, Dockyard, Aldergrove Building, DY 199 is a Recognized Federal Heritage Building because of its historical associations, and its architectural and environmental value.
Historical Value
The CFB Esquimalt, Dockyard, Aldergrove Building, DY 199 is associated with the role of research in Canadian naval defence in the post World War II period. It is also associated with the modernization and consolidation of the Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt to include research and development facilities. The construction of the CFB Esquimalt, Dockyard, Aldergrove Building, DY 199 was in direct response to the Korean and Cold Wars and Canadian participation in NATO.
Architectural Value
The CFB Esquimalt, Dockyard, Aldergrove Building, DY 199 is a good example of a purpose-built laboratory designed in the International Style. Its value lies in the increased flexibility of the modern style and use of materials, which gained acceptance in government design for labs and research facilities after World War II. The laboratory was designed with the assistance of the research scientists to be functional and efficient, resulting in a highly adaptable interior layout.
The Environmental Value
The CFB Esquimalt, Dockyard, Aldergrove Building, DY 199 reinforces the International Style character of the buildings along Hospital and Dockyard Roads. Adjacent to the shoreline, it is well known in Esquimalt, both for its physical prominence and the work that is carried out there.
Sources:
Fern Graham, Electrical Shop (DY 141), and CFB Esquimalt, Dockyard, Aldergrove Building, DY 199 (DREP, DY 199), HMC Dockyard, Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt, Victoria, British Columbia, Federal Heritage Building Report, 00-009; CFB Esquimalt, Dockyard, Aldergrove Building, DY 199 (DREP DY 199), HMC Dockyard, CFB Esquimalt, Victoria, British Columbia, Heritage Character Statement, 00-009.
Character-Defining Elements
The character-defining elements of the CFB Esquimalt, Dockyard, Aldergrove Building, DY 199 should be respected.
Its aesthetic design in the International Style, for example:
-the building’s modern design sensibilities as manifested in the bold, articulated and asymmetrical elevations;
-the clear sense of horizontality created by the use of bands of windows shaded with brises soleils and the railing along the edge of the flat roof;
-the use of vertical windows to express the presence of the stairwell on the exterior of the building;
-the materials such as the reinforced concrete frame, steel windows and stucco finish;
-the highly adaptable interior layout.
The manner in which the building reinforces the modern character of the coherent group of buildings located inside the main gate and south of Hospital Road, and is well known in Esquimalt, as evidenced by:
-the modern design of the building that harmonizes with a coherent group of buildings and reinforces the modern character of the setting;
-the building’s physical prominence in the area.
