Description of Historic Place

Building No. 29 Stores Building stands at the base of a low cliff within Canadian Forces Base, Esquimalt. The long, low, one-storey building is a rectangular, brick structure with a hipped-roof. A verandah runs the length of the façade and has decorative woodwork. The designation is confined to the footprint of the building.

Heritage Value

Building No. 29 is a Recognized Federal Heritage Building because of its historical associations, and its architectural and environmental values.

Historical Value:
Building No. 29 is closely associated with the original Royal Naval Hospital complex, an essential service for Esquimalt as the headquarters of the Pacific station of the Royal Navy from 1865 to 1905. On loan to the Military Hospitals Commission as part of the complex, it subsequently served as part of the Esquimalt Military Convalescent Hospital from 1915-1922. From 1922 until the mid-1930s, the former hospital buildings housed the first west-coast Royal Canadian Navy training establishment as part of Her Majesty's Canadian Ship (HMCS) Naden.

Architectural Value:
Building No. 29 is a good example of a support building within a Military Convalescent Hospital Complex. It represents a significant phase in the evolution of hospital planning and design. The complex is part of a rare surviving Canadian example of a ‘pavilion hospital’, a building type popular in the late 18th and 19th centuries designed to counter overcrowding and the spread of disease through improved ventilation and a greater separation of functions.

Environmental Value:
Building No. 29 stands within the original Royal Naval Hospital complex and reinforces the military character of the Canadian Forces Base at Esquimalt. Joined to its adjacent buildings by a walkway Building No. 29 is carefully integrated into its well-planned setting. Its exterior facades and its cohesive setting within the surviving Royal Navy Hospital complex define the building.

Sources:
Ian Doull, Museum Square, (Former Royal Naval Hospital, Seven Buildings), Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt, British Columbia. Federal Heritage Buildings Review Office Report 88-154

Museum Square – Building No. 29, CFB Esquimalt, Esquimalt, British Columbia. Heritage Character Statement 88-154

Character-Defining Elements

The following character-defining elements of Building No. 29 Stores Building should be respected, for example:

Its functional design and good quality materials and craftsmanship, for example:

-The low massing and symmetry of the one-storey, rectangular, hipped-roof brick building.
-The raised foundation, the bracketed cornice, and the segmentally-arched door and window openings.
-The double front door, and the verandah with decorative woodwork and railing on the main elevation.

The manner in which Building No. 29 reinforces the present character of Canadian Forces Base, Esquimalt as evidenced in:

-Its architectural vocabulary consistent with the other buildings of the hospital complex.