Vancouver officially the City of Vancouver, is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. The 2011 census recorded 603,502 people in the city, making it the eighth-largest Canadian municipality. The Greater Vancouver area of around 2.4 million inhabitants is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country.

The architecture of Vancouver and the Greater Vancouver region reflects the area’s rapid growth during the late 20th century into a vibrant internationally recognized destination of choice and place to live. The region’s temperate climate, proximity to the Coast Mountains, and sitting amongst inlets and rivers along the shores of the Strait of Georgia (the northern third of the body of water recently named the Salish Sea), have fostered an intimate relationship between its inhabitants and the natural surroundings. Possibly the most visible impact on the architecture has been one of a transparent glass aesthetic for much of the city’s downtown, leading to its 21st moniker as the “City of Glass” and “See Through City”

Let’s take a short tour through the most insistent architectural creations of the city.

The Vancouver Art Gallery

The Vancouver Art Gallery is housed downtown in the neoclassical former courthouse. The original 165,000-square-foot (15,300 m2) neoclassical building was designed by Francis Rattenbury after winning a design competition in 1905. Rattenbury also designed the British Columbia Parliament Buildings and the Empress Hotel in Victoria.

The design includes ionic columns, a central dome, formal porticos, and ornate stonework. The new building was constructed in 1906 and replaced the previous courthouse located at Victory Square. An annexe designed by Thomas Hooper was added to the western side of the building in 1912.

On the Georgia Street side of the building is the Centennial Fountain. This fountain was installed in 1966 to commemorate the centennial of the union of the colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia.

Burrard Bridge, Vancouver

Built-in the 1930s, the Burrard Bridge carries motorists, cyclists, and pedestrians across False Creek into the downtown from the affluent Kitsilano area. Architect Bing Thom says it’s a “gateway to the downtown” that has aged very well.

Canada Place

A prominent addition to the city’s landscape is the giant tent-frame Canada Place (designed by Zeidler Roberts Partnership Partnership, MCMP & DA Architects), the former Canada Pavilion from the 1986 World Exposition, which includes part of the Convention Centre, the Pan-Pacific Hotel, and a cruise ship terminal. Two modern buildings that define the southern skyline away from the downtown area are City Hall and the Centennial Pavilion of Vancouver General Hospital, both designed by Townley and Matheson in 1936 and 1958 respectively.

Evergreen building

Sitting amongst the blue glass towers of Coal Harbour is Arthur Erikson’s Evergreen building. From its most photogenic angle, it is a pyramid of overflowing concrete gardens, the windows of offices just barely peeking through the greenery. The terraced face of the building is cut on a diagonal across the site, ensuring a choice view for tenants towards Stanley Park and the North Shore Mountains. Thanks to its fans, the project has managed to resist pressures to convert or demolish the structure to make way for condominiums.

One Wall Centre, also known as the Sheraton Wall Centre – North Tower, is currently the second-tallest completed building in Vancouver. The skyscraper is located at a high point on the downtown peninsula of Vancouver and its address is 1088 Burrard Street. One Wall Centre was designed by Busby Perkins+Will.

It was completed in 2001 and won the Emporis Skyscraper Award for the Best New Skyscraper the same year.

The tower exterior has a two-tone appearance. The glass on the lower levels is a dark glass, while the glass on the upper levels is light coloured glass. To satisfy the City of Vancouver Planning Department, who were concerned that the tower would dominate the downtown skyline, it was agreed that it would have a very “light” appearance that would blend in with a blue sky.