Sun Tower, Heritage building in downtown Vancouver, Canada
The Sun Tower is a Beaux-Arts skyscraper with an eight-story L-shaped base topped by a nine-story hexagonal tower and copper-colored dome, reaching about 82 meters high. The building houses multiple commercial offices and retail spaces throughout its floors.
Commissioned by newspaper publisher L. D. Taylor for The Vancouver World, the Sun Tower opened in 1912 as the World Building, designed by William Tuff Whiteway. It stood 82 metres tall, surpassing the nearby Dominion Building as Vancouver's highest structure and, according to a heritage plaque, the tallest in the British Empire. The Vancouver Sun bought it in 1937 and renamed it; restoration began in 2018.
Nine terra cotta sculptures of female figures, created in Staffordshire, England, support the cornice line around the upper section. These ornamental elements reflect the craftsmanship and decoration typical of grand Beaux-Arts buildings of this era.
Located in downtown Vancouver on West Pender Street, the building is easily accessible and visible from street level. Visitors can view the exterior architecture and ornamental details from the sidewalk to appreciate its design and craftsmanship.
The dome is steel painted to imitate patinated copper; in early 2021 it was replaced by a roof clad in real penny-coloured copper tiles, part of restoration work begun in 2018. The exterior also appears as the Watchtower in the TV series Smallville, digitally altered into a clock tower.
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