Building History

The heritage assessment of 843/845 East Hastings was put together by Donald Luxton & Associates. Along with a rich history, we learned how the front of the building would have likely looked.  We discovered that the building was originally used by the Royal Canadian Naval Reserves.  There had been rumours that it had been used by the military, but up until the assessment, they were unconfirmed.  It has since been the home to several companies including The Dustbane Company and most recently a restaurant named Korean Garden.  The original date of construction was around 1922-23. The building is also home to the newest and largest outpost of les amis du FROMAGE, where you can expect the same selection and quality service as you would at any of our other locations.

The original architect of the building was Maurice Heyler.  Maurice was in partnership with his father J.S. Helyer, and together they ran a successful firm responsible for numerous small buildings and large commercial structures.  The most famous of their designs is the Beaux-Arts skyscraper on Victory Square known as the Dominion Trust Building, 1908-10, at the time of its completion the tallest building in the British Empire.  The firm also erected the Renaissance style, ten-storey Metropolitan Building on Hastings Street, 1911-12, and the poured-in-place concrete Board of Trade building at Homer and Cordova, 1909, arguable one of the earliest local uses of concrete as both a structural and finishing material.  One building where he was responsible for the design was the sophisticated Medial Arts Building on Granville Street, 1922-23.