JORDANS BUILDING

Firm: William Henry Birmingham and Fred Thornton Hollingsworth

Address: 425 9 Street SW

Date: 1954

Status: demolished in 2005

Jordans Limited is a flooring company founded in Vancouver in 1929 by Edwin Jordan-Knox (1884–1946). In April 1953, Jordans announced the construction of a combined showroom and office building at the southwest corner of 4th Avenue and 9th Street (beside the Sproule Building). This was to be a three-storey, curtain wall structure.

By 1954 the design had been changed. Rather than an office building, the company elected to build a pure showroom. The design was done jointly by William Henry Birmingham (1911–1997) and Fred Thornton Hollingsworth (1917–2015), both of Vancouver. It is inspired unmistakably by Frank Lloyd Wright (as much of Hollingworth's work was).

Jordans remains a major company to this day. www.jordans.ca