Leckie Building

Gastown is the historic core of Vancouver, and is the city's earliest, most historic area of commercial buildings and warehouses. The Leckie Building is representative of the importance of Gastown as the trans-shipment point between the terminus of the railway and Pacific shipping routes, and the consequent expansion of Vancouver into western Canada's predominant commercial centre in the early twentieth century. The massive cubic form, high density, large clear-span floor-plate and notable height of this structure make it a landmark in the area. One of the largest warehouses built in Gastown, its prominence and size are a clear indication of the growth and prosperity of Vancouver-based J. Leckie and Company Ltd., which supplied footwear to the Canadian Armed Forces in both World Wars, as well as to labourers and civilians in British Columbia and throughout Canada. The 1913 addition on the eastern part of the lot was constructed in response to the business boom that occurred during Gastown's heyday prior to the First World War.

The Leckie Building is valued as a significant design by local architects Dalton and Eveleigh. W.T. Dalton (1854-1931) and S.M. Eveleigh (1870-1947) were highly regarded for the quality of their commercial and institutional buildings; they designed both the original 1908 structure and its 1913 addition. The sophisticated use of high quality materials, including an intricate brick pattern, elevates this design beyond a purely utilitarian response to commercial need.