The Marine Building is a
skyscraper
A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ris ...
located at 355
Burrard Street
Burrard Street is a major thoroughfare in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is the central street of Downtown Vancouver and the Financial District. The street is named for Burrard Inlet, located at its northern terminus, which in turn is ...
in
Downtown
''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...
Vancouver, British Columbia
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
, Canada near the Financial District. Completed in 1930, at the time of its opening it was the city's tallest skyscraper and it is one of the most iconic buildings in Vancouver and listed among the best
Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
buildings in the world.
[The History of Metropolitan Vancouver: The Marine Building](_blank)
/ref>[Forbidden Vancouver: The Marine Building](_blank)
/ref> It owes its name to the plethora of fine marine-themed ornaments that decorate it. Because of its iconic architecture and luscious interior decorations, the building has been chosen as the setting of a number of film and television productions.[The Marine Building's Art-Deco "Aquatecture"](_blank)
/ref>
History
The building was conceived by Lt. Commander J.W. Hobbs JW may refer to:
*Jack Wills, a clothing company
*Jehovah's Witnesses, a Christian religious group
*''John Wick'', an action film starring Keanu Reeves
*Joko Widodo, 7th President of Indonesia, 16th Governor of Jakarta and 15th Mayor of Surakarta
* ...
, an entrepreneur from Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
. Hobbs recognized that the opening of the Panama Canal
The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a conduit ...
in 1914 would greatly increase Vancouver's importance as a commercial port, and decided that the city needed a grand, iconic building, in the venue of the newly constructed Chrysler Building
The Chrysler Building is an Art Deco skyscraper on the East Side of Manhattan in New York City, at the intersection of 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. At , it is the tallest brick building in the world with a steel fra ...
in New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
.[A View on Cities: Marine Building, Vancouver](_blank)
/ref> The design was assigned to McCarter Nairne and Partners, who had never worked on the design of a skyscraper before.Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
it was sold to the Guinness family of Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
for only $900,000. The 2016 property assessment is $90 million.
There was an observation deck, but during the depression in the 1930s the 25-cent admission price proved unaffordable for most. Currently, there are no public galleries in the building.
Inside the massive brass-doored elevator
An elevator or lift is a wire rope, cable-assisted, hydraulic cylinder-assisted, or roller-track assisted machine that vertically transports people or freight between floors, levels, or deck (building), decks of a building, watercraft, ...
s the walls are inlaid with 12 varieties of local hardwood
Hardwood is wood from dicot trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen. Hardwood (which comes from ...
s. All over the walls and polished brass doors are depictions of sea snails, skate, crabs, turtles, carp, scallops, seaweed and sea horses, as well as the transportation means of the era. The floor presents the zodiac signs. The exterior is studded with flora and fauna, tinted in sea-green and touched with gold.
During a renovation from 1982-1989 to update the electrical, mechanical and air-conditioning systems, the "battleship linoleum" (imported from Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
) in the lobby was replaced with marble. The former Merchant Exchange was also gutted, and is now a restaurant called Tractor Foods. This building was also the management centre for Oneworld
Oneworld (stylised as oneworld; Computer reservations system, CRS: *O) is an airline alliance founded on 1 February 1999. The alliance's stated objective is to be the first choice airline alliance for the world's frequent international traveller ...
, of one of the three largest airline alliances in the world, from its founding in May 2000 until it was relocated to New York City in June 2011.
In popular culture
The building has often been used in filmmaking
Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, casti ...
and television production
A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed betw ...
. It was the setting for the final scene in the movie, ''Timecop
''Timecop'' is a 1994 American science fiction action film directed by Peter Hyams and co-written by Mike Richardson and Mark Verheiden. Richardson also served as executive producer. The film is based on '' Timecop'', a story created by Richar ...
''and it was used as the headquarters of the Daily Planet
The ''Daily Planet'' is a fictional newspaper appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with Superman. The newspaper was first mentioned in ''Action Comics'' #23 (April 1940). The ''Daily Planet'' build ...
in the popular television show ''Smallville
''Smallville'' is an American superhero television series developed by writer-producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, based on the DC Comics character Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The series was produced by Millar Gough ...
'' and as the Freelancers headquarter in the TV show ''Continuum
Continuum may refer to:
* Continuum (measurement), theories or models that explain gradual transitions from one condition to another without abrupt changes
Mathematics
* Continuum (set theory), the real line or the corresponding cardinal number ...
''. The building was used in the movie '' Blade: Trinity''. It stood in for the Baxter Building
The Baxter Building is a fictitious 35-story office building appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The building is depicted in Manhattan, and its five upper floors house the Fantastic Four's headquarters.
Publication hist ...
in New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
in 2005's ''Fantastic Four
The Fantastic Four is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team debuted in ''The Fantastic Four'' #1 ( cover dated Nov. 1961), helping usher in a new level of realism in the medium. It was the first ...
'' and its sequel, '' Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer''.IGN: Fantastic Four Set Visit
/ref>
Gallery
Image:Marine Building 1929.png, Marine Building in 1929.
Image:Marine-bldg.jpg, Marine Building in 2006, as seen from the intersection of Burrard and Pender Streets.
Image:MarineBlg GoldenHindDrake.jpg, One of the tiles depicting maritime history.
Image:Marine Bldg zeppelin decoration.jpg, External wall depiction of zeppelin, transcontinental mode of flight at the time
Image:Marine Building from granville.jpg, Marine building from West Hastings Street
See also
*List of heritage buildings in Vancouver
The following is a list of buildings and structures classified as Schedule "A" and Schedule "B" heritage buildings by the City of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. These are ''designated'' heritage buildings, and as such are legally protected ...
*List of old Canadian buildings
This is a list of the oldest surviving buildings and structures of significance in each province and territory of Canada.
Alberta
First Nations peoples in Alberta were generally nomadic and did not create permanent structures, however they did ...
*List of tallest buildings in Vancouver
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, has more high-rise buildings per capita than most North American metropolitan centres with populations exceeding 1,000,000. Vancouver's population density is the 4th-highest in North America and the city has ...
*Oneworld
Oneworld (stylised as oneworld; Computer reservations system, CRS: *O) is an airline alliance founded on 1 February 1999. The alliance's stated objective is to be the first choice airline alliance for the world's frequent international traveller ...
Notes
External links
The Canadian Encyclopedia: The Marine Building
{{Vancouver landmarks
Art Deco architecture in Canada
Skyscrapers in Vancouver
Terminating vistas in Canada
Buildings and structures completed in 1930
Heritage buildings in Vancouver
Coal Harbour