Vancouver Vocational Institute

Now Vancouver Community College, this school is notable primarily as one of the first examples of the International Style erected in Vancouver’s downtown core.

The Vancouver Vocational Institute was among the earliest publicly funded post-WW II building projects in the city. The Institute was designed by a leading local architectural firm of the day, Sharp Thompson Berwick and Pratt, and is one of the earliest examples of the International Style in Vancouver, built in 1949.

Architect Bob Berwick organized three multi-story blocks around a central courtyard and connected them with recessed corner stairwells. In keeping with the functionalist principles of the Bauhaus, Berwick celebrated the stairs and structural columns by exposing them through floor to ceiling glazing.

The college was immediately popular and additions were required in 1964, 1969, and 1983. The 1983 additions also extensively reconfigured and renovated the interiors.

Source

Historic Places Canada, Exploring Vancouver Architectural Guide by Harold Kalman, Mid-Century Modern Downtown Vancouver Map Guide (VHF)

More information

http://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=8924&pid=0