BUILDING THE WEST

Experience

Richly illustrated with over 600 photographs and duotones of these architects’ most important works, Building the West tells the stories, discovers the hopes and aspirations, and celebrates the successes and accomplishments of the early colonial architects of British Columbia as it illustrates their lives and careers, many of which extended along the North American west coast from California to Alaska. Starting before the first flood of colonists in the gold rush of 1858, it follows the lives of almost 400 individuals drawn here by the opportunities of “frontier” settlement and encompasses the broad sweep of British Columbia’s post-contact history.  

As most of these architects had their roots in other countries, this project required over ten years of intensive research to unravel their many mysteries. Including the work of over fifty-seven contributors, project directors Donald Luxton and Stuart Stark were able to solicit substantial contributions from heritage researchers across the world. Building the West has won numerous awards, including: Heritage Canada Achievement Award, City of Vancouver Heritage Award of Honour, BC Book Prize, Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Prize, Architectural Institute of British Columbia Special Jury Prize, and the Canadian Association of Professional Heritage Consultants Award of Honour.