Guinness Tower

This exemplary International Style building was designed with Miesian minimalism, lightness and clarity tempered by a West Coast sensibility. Paine was inspired by the calming qualities and grey-blue colours of the veiled coastal sky. The tower’s cool, aloof presence and elegant ground floor lobby are contrasted and energized by an extraordinary mural by Jordi Bonet: The Fathomless Richness of the Seabed.

Bonet was asked to create a mural that would echo the relationship between the building and its environment; he created a ceramic wall relief in blues and golds that abstracts the world at the bottom of the sea with chaotic, aquatic objects trouvés. The Guinness Tower was built in 1967-69 and is an excellent example of a late modern high rise commercial building.

When built, the Guinness Tower was located at the edge of the downtown peninsula on a cliff edge above rail yards and the original shoreline of Coal Harbour.

Designed by architect Charles Paine, the building’s rectilinear slab shape, is typical of early modernist towers, with a central service core flanked by two broad bays with offices. The recessed base, stepped articulated tower form and projecting penthouse element creates a distinctive design.

Source

City of Vancouver Heritage Program, VHF's Mid-Century Modern Downtown Vancouver Map Guide

More information

http://former.vancouver.ca/ctyclerk/cclerk/20110726/documents/phea1.pdf