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The Modernist School Buildings of Victoria

Modern major monuments, stridently progressive in their style, are S.J. Willis High 1950 and Central Junior High 1952 (both Birley, Wade Stockdill, archts.). These latter paved the way for the new form of Modernist suburban school: Lansdowne 1953 (Wade Stockdill, archts.) in Mount Tolmie, and Mount Doug 1960 (W.D.Siddall, archts.) in Gordon Head. Central itself is a further development of their earlier pioneering Expressionist work for the Greater Victoria School, the monumental S.J. Willis School. The site carries a historic importance in Victoria's educational history. This was the original colonial school reserve, the school itself a wood- frame, single-story version of Craigflower. John Teague designed the first provincial school, a brick Mansardic structure very reminiscent both of the Inner Harbour Customs House under construction at the time and Teague's City Hall two years later. In 1882 a single-story wing was added to the rear, replacing the old Colonial School building, to accommodate the Victoria High School. F.M. Rattenbury designed the red brick twin-gable Queen Anne structure with its stone Tudor arched entrance which replaced teague's building in 1902. The BWS 1952 concrete four-storey range dominates the crest of the Fort/ Pandora Hill overlooking the city. The T-plan is organized about a central stair tower. The front elevation balances a gymnasium with a window-grid classroom wing. the entrance is marked by the curved clerestory wall of a forward projecting single-story office block. The Rationalist geometry of the design and clear articulation of functional units provides a distinctly European flavour which is the hallmark of much of BSW's early Expressionist work in Victoria. It would inspire an entire generation of the British Columbia school design.

BUILDINGS SECTION
Residential | Schools | Downtown