HILLSIDE SHOPPING CENTRE (1969)

1644 Hillside Avenue

Architects: Mussen Cattel Architects

Hillside followed the development of Town & Country and Mayfair, as urban shopping malls were positioned on Victoria's municipal boundaries to serve the auto-oriented suburbs. One effect of this complex was to threaten the retail viability of Victoria's traditional civic core. Hillside was strategically positioned adjacent to the early CMHC post war "affordable housing" subdivision in the area of Doncaster and Oakland Streets. Sears, the main retail anchor of Hillside, was given feature architectural treatment with a curious geometric grid applied to the wide expanses of windowless walls. This manifests as abstract crennelations at the roof line. The mall has been subject to continuous changes and additions over the years, although Sears has remained substantially unaltered.