Marine Building, Art Deco skyscraper in Downtown Vancouver, Canada.

The Marine Building is an Art Deco skyscraper in downtown Vancouver with a 22-story limestone and brick exterior adorned with terra cotta ornaments featuring maritime motifs and geometric patterns. The entire surface displays detailed carvings that consistently express the nautical theme throughout.

Lt. Commander J.W. Hobbs of Toronto conceived the building after the 1914 opening of the Panama Canal, and McCarter Nairne and Partners, who had never designed a skyscraper, drew the plans. Construction began on 13 March 1929, when Mayor W.H. Malkin blew a golden whistle to start the steam shovel, and was completed on 7 October 1930. At 97.8 metres and 22 floors it was Vancouver's tallest until 1939. Costing $2.3 million, it was sold during the Depression to the Guinness family for $900,000.

The lobby showcases zodiac signs and wall carvings featuring sailing ships, sea creatures, and transportation symbols that weave throughout the interior. These details create a visual story that visitors notice right away upon entering.

The Marine Building stands at 355 Burrard Street in downtown Vancouver, near the Financial District. There are no public galleries inside, and the former observation deck is gone; the 25-cent admission of the 1930s proved unaffordable during the Depression. The lobby, with its brass-doored elevators and inlaid hardwoods, is the interior detail to look for.

The brass-doored elevators have walls inlaid with 12 varieties of local hardwoods, and the lobby floor shows the zodiac signs. The exterior is studded with sea snails, crabs, turtles, carp, scallops, seaweed and seahorses, tinted sea-green and touched with gold.