Main Post Office and Federal Building
(1948-50)

1230 Government Street

Architects: James & James (Renovations: Irvine Kew, 1994)

Brothers Percy and Douglas James worked together on this, Victoria's largest single piece of immediate post-war construction. Originally envisaged as a depression years make-work project in 1936, site preparation finally began in 1948. The minimalist Moderne effect dominates this monumental structure, given a symmetrical Classical treatment on the Government Street facadeÑthe columns recognizable as such only to the most discerning eye. This was P.L. James' last major project and he claimed it as one of his best. Recent renovations by architect Irving Kew have replaced the postal station hall with a series of streetfront shops under a sidewalk canopy. This makes the original structure even more difficult to read, though perhaps more friendly at street level.