About Us

History

Sinclair Centre is an upscale shopping mall located in Downtown Vancouver at 757 West Hastings Street between Granville and Howe. The centre is comprised of four buildings that were restored by Henriquez Partners Architects and joined together by a glass atrium roof in 1986, at a cost of $38 million. The buildings are:

Federal Building:

Located at the corner of Granville and Cordova construction began in June 1935 and was completed in 1937. The building was designed by Publics Works’ Chief Architect T.W. Fuller and was built as a Post Office Extension and housed post office functions.

Post Office Building:

This building is the oldest of the four and is described as having an Edwardian Baroque style, combining English and French architectural influences. Construction began in 1905 and it was completed by 1910. Located at the corner of Granville and Hastings Streets, this building was designed by Public Works’ Chief Architect David Ewart. In 1958 it became Postal Station ‘A’ due to the construction of the main Post Office at 349 West Georgia. Postal Station ‘A’ moved back in the Spring of 1986.

The building is easily identifiable by the 43m (141 ft) clock tower. The historic atrium clock was built in 1909 by John Smith & Sons and is the largest clock movement in Western Canada. The four, 12-foot diameter clocks were restored in 1986.

Winch Building:

Mr. Richard Vance Winch began construction on the Winch Building in 1908 and construction was completed in 1911. Mr. Winch came to Vancouver in 1886 after working on a railroad gang and as a cowboy. He made a fortune in business, principally in salmon canning and real estate. The Winch building, was designed by Thomas Hooper and was completed for $700,000. It was proudly presented as ‘an entirely modern Class A office building, the first of its kind in British Columbia’ and was sold to the federal government in 1925.