Description of Historic Place
The Garrison Club, also known as the Former Royal Engineer’s Office, is located on St. Louis Street in the historic area of Québec City known as Old Québec. The large and attractive stone building is topped by a mansard roof and has a twelve-bay façade with square, pyramidal roofed towers on each side. Ornamental quoins, stringcourses and pedimented dormers decorate the building. The designation is confined to the footprint of the building.
Heritage Value
The Garrison Club is a Recognized Federal Heritage Building because of its historical associations, and its architectural and environmental value.
Historical Value
The Garrison Club, as the former Royal Engineer’s Office, is closely associated with the early nineteenth-century presence of the Royal Engineers in Québec, at a time of increased British military activity in Lower Canada. From the late nineteenth century onwards, it has been associated with the evolution of the Garrison Club, a prominent establishment within the military and social milieu of Québec City. Its eighty-eight founding members were all military men of the highest order.
Architectural Value
The Garrison Club is valued for its very good aesthetic design executed in a restrained Chateau Style. Also a good functional design, the building was successfully enlarged and extended incorporating the original massive exterior walls in the interior layout. The façades are marked by a consistent use of well-dressed masonry walls with regularly spaced, carefully trimmed openings and are evidence of the building’s good craftsmanship. Ornamental quoins, stringcourses and pedimented dormers add a decorative aspect to the design.
Environmental Value
The Garrison Club is compatible with the urban character of its streetscape setting and is a familiar landmark in Old Québec.
Sources:
Joanna H. Doherty, Garrison Club Complex, Québec, Québec, Federal Heritage Buildings Review Office, Building Report, 87-112; Garrison Club (Former Royal Engineer’s Office), Garrison Club Complex, Québec, Québec, Heritage Character Statement, 87-112.
Character-Defining Elements
The character-defining elements of the Garrison Club should be respected.
Its very good Chateau Style design, functional design and very good quality materials and craftsmanship, for example:
- the two-storey structure with a mansard roof, and square pyramidal roofed towers on each side of a twelve-bay façade;
- the flat seam and batten metal roof finishes, the windows and doors, and the eavestrough and downspouts;
- the massive walls that are incorporated into the interior ground floor layout;
- the consistent use of well dressed masonry walls with regularly spaced, carefully trimmed openings on the façades;
- the ornamental quoins string courses and pedimented dormers;
- the principal, east entry which incorporates one of the hipped roof pavilions of the Sewell House.
The manner in which the Garrison Club is compatible with the historic, urban character of its streetscape setting and is a familiar landmark, as evidenced by:
- its Chateau Style and materials which harmonize with the adjacent historic buildings on the streetscape;
- the relationship of the building’s façades to St. Louis and Citadel streets, which maintain the historic urban character of Old Québec;
- its well-known historical associations and designation as a National Historic Site of Canada which make it a destination for visitors and a local landmark.
