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The Seaforth Highlanders of Canada have been stationed at 1650 Burrard Street's eponymous armoury since the fortress-like building was completed in 1936. A symbol of impregnability, the Canadian Forces-owned facility continues to serve as a place for the reserve unit to train and parade, while also providing educational value in the form of the Seaforth Museum.
From 1910 until 1935, the Seaforth Highlands of Canada shared space with the Duke of Connaught's Own Rifles at the Beatty Street Drill Hall. It wasn't until the government was petitioned that efforts for a separate armoury to house the regiment materialized. The Public Work Construction Act of 1934, a federal government initiative to create work during the Great Depression, would also catalyze the project.
An undeveloped plot of land at the south end of the newly built Burrard Street Bridge was the chosen spot for the armoury. Work commenced in 1935 and concluded the following year, opening on August 26. At the time, military conflict in the Pacific was a heightened concern, so the armoury was a strategically important asset for the Canadian Forces.
The Seaforth Armoury was designed by McCarter and Nairne, expert employers of reinforced concrete design for large-scale buildings, in the Scots Baronial style. Like other 1930s armouries, several medievally inspired architectural elements found their way into use. The low-slung, asymmetrical building bears stepped buttresses, crenellated flat roof sections, and two circular towers with conical crowns. The main entrance is adorned with heraldic plaques that display the cross of St. Andrew.
The Seaforth adopted the 'head house' configuration, one of two dominant plans generally employed in traditional Canadian armoury design. The layout sees the buildings' facilities located at one end of the drill hall, with a flat-roofed midsection connecting the tall head house and the lower drill hall. A four-year renovation of the federally recognized heritage building concluded in 2016 and introduced a new four-storey, post-disaster facility to the property.
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