Photo credit: Philip Timms via VPL #5187

Located at 2733 Heather Street on the Vancouver General Hospital (VGH) campus, the Heather Pavilion is Vancouver’s oldest surviving hospital building. Completed in 1906 and designed by the prominent Vancouver firm Grant and Henderson, the Pavilion was the largest and most modern hospital in western Canada when it opened. Its Romanesque Revival and Beaux-Arts granite façade reflect the evolution of hospital design and the professionalization of nursing. In 2002, the City of Vancouver designated the Pavilion’s 1906 core and elements of its 1908 addition as protected heritage property.  

In exchange for rezoning benefits granted to expand the hospital campus, Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) entered into a Heritage Revitalization Agreement to rehabilitate the building and protect it from deterioration and demolition. Without fulfilling the agreement, VCH is now seeking to be released from it: a Council policy update adopted by the City in July 2026 endorses “interpretation” rather than physical retention as the primary way of commemorating the building. The policy promotes the repeal of the Pavilion’s Heritage Revitalization Agreement and an amendment to its designation bylaw at a public hearing expected in 2027.  

Across the country, historic hospital buildings are increasingly caught between the pressure to modernize healthcare infrastructure and the value of conserving landmark institutional architecture.  

Location: Vancouver, BC 

Endangered Places List: 2026 

Status: Endangered