Style

This building has been described by George Fuller (4) as the clothing of a high-rise structure in Italian Renaissance palazzo. It could also be categorized as belonging to the Chicago School or Sullivanisque Style, which held popularity in North America from 1890-1920. As the names suggest, the Chicago School was born out of the development which occurred in that mid-western U.S. city, while the Sullivanisque style was a variation of the school created by Louis Sullivan (1856-1924). Given the frequent turn-of-the-century comparisons made between Chicago and Winnipeg, it is not surprising that the latter city adopted the style, albeit in reduced designs, for both office towers and warehouses.

This commercial architecture grew out of the technological advances that led to the steel skeleton frame. This, in turn, allowed architects to design taller buildings and to use windows to fill a large amount of wall space since exterior walls no longer had to bear tremendous structural weights. (5) Buildings became rectangular, with flat roofs and terminating cornices. Their exterior arrangement often expressed the internal skeleton through a variety of horizontal and vertical elements, creating a grid-like pattern.

It was Sullivan who designed skyscrapers in the form of a classical column consisting of a two-story base (which included large display windows), a main shaft with vertical emphasis, and an elaborate capital, usually a "boldly projecting terra-cotta cornice."(6) Sullivan's buildings also employed low-relief foliate designs as ornamentation.

Winnipeg has several examples of this type of architecture. The Union Bank Building Royal Tower, 504 Main Street, was constructed in 1903-04 and designed by Darling and Pearson, (7) who also were responsible for the 1906 Grain Exchange Building. Although the Union Bank features a more elaborate ground floor, mezzanine and cornice area, its basic classical column motif and large window space are similar to the Grain Exchange.

Other examples of the style include:

Confederation Life Building, 457 Main Street (1912), designed by Toronto architect J. Wilson Gray. It features a more distinct vertical expression in the central area. (8)
Boyd Building, 388 Portage Avenue (1912), John D. Atchison, architect. Again, the vertical expression is strongly represented. (9)
The Paris Building, 259 Portage Avenue (1915-17), Northwood and Carey architects. Although it was built in two stages, this office tower still displays the elements of the style. (10)