It was pretty impressive, but what was most interesting was how it was just in the middle of a downtown square, with skyscrapers and huge, more modern buildings right next to it.
We continued down the street to find this wonderful art deco building towering above us. The 23-story Aldred Building was completed in 1931, and was the tallest building in the city at the time. They took advantage of a recently-instated bylaw allowing for taller buildings if they made use of setbacks (which were set at the 8th, 13th, and 16th floors) to allow more light on the street, and reduce overall building mass and risk of overwhelming the space.
The building was made of limestone, as were many other buildings in the area, and the stylized decoration on the stone itself and the aluminum and black glass spandrels between the windows is a key art deco motif. They often celebrated local flora and fauna, and in this case it is no different, with maple, pine, and oak leaves, stars, and snowflakes making up the symmetrical designs.
After admiring the vertical lines and simple decoration for a while we kept going down the road and saw more interesting buildings, and one facade being redone!
(photos by e.hunt)
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