1600-02 Quadra Street

ARCHITECTURE:

The Architect Builder & Engineer, 25 June 1913, page 10: “Archts. Breseman & Durfee have completed the erection of the First Congregational Church on Quadra St., the dedication and first service in the auditorium being held last Sunday. The contractor, T. H. Brown, enjoyed the unusual distinction of leading the musical part of the celebrations on this occasion.”

This symmetrical, three-storey, Classical Revival brick and concrete block edifice is dominated by its portico. This is comprised of a modillioned, denticulated pediment above four cast concrete Ionic columns. The whole structure is raised a full storey off the ground, and accessed by concrete block side-facing staircases on either side of a balustraded terrace. Three upper-floor, round-arched windows in the portico sit over pedimented entrances on the terrace. Slightly recessed, heavy corner blocks on either side of the portico continue around both sides of the building. There are two shallow bays, each with five windows, on either side of the building beyond the corner blocks. All the windows on the upper floor are matching round-arched windows. On the main floor, decorative brickwork panels take the place of windows on the corner blocks, but the bays have rectangular windows. The upper floors are separated from the ground floor by a concrete water table. The ground floor windows on the sides are segmentally arched. The roof is hipped over the auditorium, flat over the rear. The original cornice and parapet have been removed. Original plans show an ornate lantern and cupola, but these were never built.

Under the front stairs, recessed doorways led into meeting rooms and a Sunday School. A fourstorey extension at the rear accommodated parlours, offices and the pastor’s study. The auditorium, 26 feet high, had raked, semicircular seating and curved pews facing the pulpit, organ and choir. There was a rectangular balcony.

ORIGINAL OCCUPANTS:

The consecration address for the church was given by the Rev. W.J. Hindley, mayor of Spokane, WA, indicating the American origins of the Congregationalist movement. The architects, Breseman & Durfee, were also from Washington state. The building was acquired by the Baptist Church, after the merger of the Congregationalist, Methodist and Presbyterian churches in 1925, and the Baptists used it until they moved to their new building on Balmoral Rd in 1973.

OTHER OCCUPANTS:

The old building was owned by the province for a time and some rewiring and renovation was done for the London Boxing Club and the Victoria Athletic Association. It was acquired by Nelson’s Music in the late 1970s and they filled in the archways at street level for a book store. By 1990 Lloyd Cartwright, the book store owner, had bought the building. For many years he tried to sell it, but a number of deals fell through.

In 2005-07 a new owner began converting the building to an upscale condominium complex, named The Palladian. Architect Herbert Kwan planned to keep all the original design elements, and add a 45,000 square foot addition at the rear of the building, creating 29 condo units above 7,000 square feet of commercial space. In 2008, the owners received the Hallmark Heritage Society’s President’s Award for their rehabilitation of the building.