Victoria, B.C.

 

The Fairmont Empress Hotel, Victoria, B.C. (photo by Dllu, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)

 
Just a brief entry this week: I’m in Victoria, the capital city of British Columbia, Canada. A smallish city (population 91,867), Victoria nonetheless presents a rich architectural and urban fabric shaped by its layered histories. Its built environment reflects colonial ambitions, regional adaptation, and contemporary evolution.
 
The city’s architectural identity is perhaps most famously embodied in the British Columbia Parliament Buildings and The Empress Hotel, both designed by Francis Rattenbury and each a grandiose expression of late 19th-century imperial confidence. Their monumental stone facades and Edwardian flourishes assert a presence that has long defined the Inner Harbour. Beyond these landmarks, Victoria boasts an extensive collection of other heritage buildings—ranging from Queen Anne and Italianate commercial structures to Arts and Crafts residences in neighborhoods like Rockland—that lend a tangible sense of continuity with the past. At the same time, contemporary interventions, such as the TELUS Ocean Building now taking shape, reflect a shift toward glassy modernism and densification, particularly in the downtown core.
 
Victoria’s urban realm is another defining feature. Unlike many North American cities, its compact, walkable scale remains intact. The human-centered streetscapes, punctuated by pocket parks and waterfront vistas, support a civic life that prioritizes pedestrians over automobiles. The city has also embraced cycling infrastructure, further reinforcing its European-influenced urban sensibility.
 
This is my first visit to Victoria in decades, so I’ve been curious to observe how its architectural and planning traditions have evolved since I last was here during the 1980s. How has the city reconciled its architectural and cultural heritage with the pressures of growth and affordability? How do new developments contribute—or detract—from its established character? Victoria does offer a compelling study in balancing past and future, tradition and innovation.