For better or for worse, Vancouver is an ever-evolving city. Its socioeconomic maturity manifests itself in the built form and urban fabric of the city, as long-standing buildings are replaced by contemporary equivalents that are more attuned to the demands of the modern market. Several of the city's most ornate structures were demolished to make way for the office towers that have shaped the skyline and still exist to this day — though they too are inevitably subject to refurbishment or redevelopment schemes. Vancouver's changing face has especially been pronounced at Granville and West Pender Streets, where a myriad of redevelopments have drastically altered the character of the corridor.

Looking down Granville Street towards Pender in 1907, image by Flickr user blizzy63 via Creative Commons

In 1907, looking north along Granville Street presented a much different picture than the one we see today. The southwest corner of Granville and Pender — the left side of the image above — was once home to the Post Office and Customs House, constructed in 1894 and designed by Charles Osborne Wickenden. When the new and much larger still-existing Post Office was built further down the street at West Hastings 15 years later, the building was replaced. 

750 West Pender under construction in 1974, image via City of Vancouver Archives

Just across the street was the 1898-built Fairfield Building. Designed by William Blackmore, the four-storey structure featured granite-framed storefronts, a horizontally striped facade, and a central archway on Granville. And the foot of Granville was gracefully served by the Second CPR Station, completed around the turn of the century in the Châteauesque style. The structure only lasted about 15 years before it was replaced by the current CPR station, the office tower at Granville Square, and a parkade.

Looking north on Granville Street towards Pender today, image retrieved from Google Street View

Over a century later, the view is unrecognizable. The lot that was occupied by the Post Office and Customs House is now home to the Pacific Centre complex, designed by Underwood, McKinley, Wilson & Smith. The twin-tower office development consists of two 17-storey buildings at 700 and 750 West Pender, built in 1972 and 1974. The Fairfield Building was demolished and a new four-storey Modernist structure took its place. It now abuts the United Kingdom Building, constructed in 1957, which replaced the five-storey stone-clad MacKinnon Building.

750 West Pender today, image retrieved from Google Street View