Bonaventure

The Bonaventure is a 30-unit, 5-storey brick apartment house constructed in 1911 in the Edwardian Renaissance Revival Style. It has a “C” category in the Heritage Register and is described by the Vancouver Heritage Resource Inventory as a good example of an early apartment in the area.

The building features a tripartite façade, elaborate columned entrance, top cornice with heavy bracketing and a parapet with metal panels. Bonaventure was designed by Seattle architect William P. White. Although White only practiced architecture in Vancouver for two years, he designed several multi-storey apartment buildings in the downtown area, including the Sylvia Apartments in 1911-12 (now the Sylvia Hotel).

Predicting an increasing demand for livable apartment buildings in cities like Seattle and Vancouver, White championed the multi-family dwelling apartment house, aiming to design bright, spacious, soundproof and well-ventilated apartments to “supply as far as possible what the individual home would give.” The building is currently operated by the Wings Housing Society which provides housing assistance to people living with HIV/AIDS.

Source

Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada 1800-1950, “Historical Context: The Development of Seattle” in New Federal Courthouse