Sinclair Centre - Winch Building

Mr. Richard Vance Winch began construction on the Winch Building in 1908 and construction was completed in 1911. Mr. Winch came to Vancouver in 1886 after working on a railroad gang and as a cowboy. He made a fortune in business, principally in salmon canning and real estate.

The Winch building was designed by Thomas Hooper and was completed for $700,000. It was proudly presented as ‘an entirely modern Class A office building, the first of its kind in British Columbia’ and was sold to the federal government in 1925.

Sinclair Centre is an upscale shopping mall located in Downtown Vancouver between Granville and Howe. The centre is comprised of four buildings that were restored by Henriquez Partners Architects and joined together by a glass atrium roof in 1986, at a cost of $38 million. The complex is named after former Vancouver MP James Sinclair. The Vancouver Post Office, the Winch Building and the Customs Building, together form a historic block which has been restored as the Sinclair Centre.

Source

Vancouver Heritage Inventory Phase II 1986 Summary Report, Historic Places Canada

More information

http://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=4154