2010 AWARD OF HONOUR

Rehabilitation of the Pennsylvania Hotel

Vancouver

The Portland Hotel Society
Merrick Architecture
Donald Luxton & Associates Inc.

Originally called the Woods Hotel, the Pennsylvania was designed by William Tuff Whiteway in 1906. Located along what was then the vibrant commercial strip of Hastings Street in Vancouver's downtown, the hotel and was designed to accommodate wealthy travelers and businessmen, and was considered to be one of the more luxurious accommodations on the west coast. The Pennsylvania was distinguished by its cantilevered bay windows, its octagonal corner bay at the corner of Hastings and Carrall Streets, and its distinctive turret roof and spire. The main entrance of the Hotel was framed by a Romanesque Revival stone archway with elaborately carved detailing and fluted columns.

Over the years the Pennsylvania Hotel deteriorated along with the surrounding neighbourhood. In 1999, The Portland Hotel Society purchased the derelict building from the City of Vancouver with an agreement to provide Single Room Occupancy units. The building, in its abandoned and deteriorated state, served as a bleak reminder of the need for effective social housing. Sufficient funds were ultimately raised through a partnership of several public and private sources.  In 2005, Merrick Architecture was commissioned to rehabilitate the Class A heritage structure to create a supervised housing facility comprised of 44 self-contained SRO units with commercial space on the ground level.

The project team seismically upgraded the structure, fully upgraded the mechanical and electrical components and portions of the envelope to meet current building code requirements. Project accomplishments include:

To the exterior:
•    Restoration of decorative sheet metal cornices at each floor level
•    Preservation of the metal facade, double hung wood bay windows,
      and brick
•    Restoration of an historically organized storefront level
•    Restoration of the existing masonry archway
•    Restoration of the metal canopy and roof top parapet sign
•    Preservation of corner octagonal bay window and restoration
      of turret roof and spire
•    Rehabilitation of exterior fire escapes as decorative balconies
•    Replication of the second historic Pennsylvania neon sign
      (1927 vintage)
•    Historic colour scheme
•    Glass prisms reintroduced above basement areaway

In the interior
•    Reintroduction of the organization and occupancy of the building
•    Preservation of wood trim behind all windows
•    Re-creation of the tiled flooring pattern in main entry
•    Retention of decorative metal elevator cab and cast iron motor
      as a static display
•    Restoration of the main stair wood newel posts 

The Pennsylvania Hotel was formally opened in January of 2009 and became one of the first completed SRO buildings of the many that are currently in the planning stages.

The project demonstrates the successful rehabilitation that is possible for any existing vacant or derelict heritage building. Through a transformative and socially responsible process focused on adaptive re-use, a home for the disadvantaged was created that recalls an historic past, while creating a source of identity and community pride. The rehabilitation of the Pennsylvania Hotel allows this heritage building to begin a new life and to become once again a landmark in the community.