E & N Roundhouse

The Esquimalt and Nanaimo (E&N) Railway Roundhouse is valued as one of the finest, and most intact examples of industrial heritage railway architecture in British Columbia. Constructed in 1912, this rare integrated assemblage of buildings and functional features provide valuable insight into the primary roles of industry and the railway in the burgeoning period of economic prosperity before the First World War. The E&N - originally built and operated by the wealthy Dunsmuir family - was a local extension of the transcontinental railway, which had unified Canada's western provinces and promoted confederation of the country. As the maintenance centre for the E&N Railway line - which significantly influenced local industrial and commercial growth - this Roundhouse site played an integral role in the facilitation of twentieth century development and economic prosperity on Vancouver Island.

The physical value of this place resides in the understated detailing and the utilitarian forms of the brick and wood purpose-built architecture, and the relationship between the buildings and mechanical facilities such as the locomotive turntable, and nearby rail lines.