A Case for Dal Grauer

Abstract

With its fully glazed façade, the Dal Grauer Substation is unusual for being a highly visible industrial building in a downtown urban setting. Significant at the time was the literal and symbolic transparency of the BC Electric Company's public mandate to provide power to downtown Vancouver. lts location at the midpoint of the Burrard Street corridor anchors a range of distinguished buildings of the early to late twentieth century. But changes over time have diminished the building's transparency and the robust beauty and clarity of its internal design.

Keywords

• Vancouver
• Canada