The Dominion Building – West Hastings Street , Vancouver, British Columbia

The Dominion Building (originally Dominion Trust Building), is a commercial building in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Located on the edge of Gastown (207 West Hastings Street), it was Vancouver’s first steel-framed high-rise. At 53 m (175 ft), the thirteen-storey, Second Empire style building was the tallest commercial building in the British Empire upon its completion in 1910. Its architect was John S. Helyer, who is said to have died after falling off the staircase in the front of the building, though this is an urban legend.

The financiers of the structure were the Counts von Alvensleben from Germany, who were active in Vancouver’s financial scene at the time. It was generally held at the time that they were a front for the Kaiser’s money, which carried the suggestion that the Empire’s tallest building had been built by its greatest rival.