The Armoury District: Vancouver’s newest work-shop-dine area is stylish by design
Credit to Author: Shawn Conner| Date: Sat, 24 Aug 2019 13:30:26 +0000
One of the city’s newest recognized neighbourhoods, the Armoury District, is barely a decade old. But over the last 10 years the area has seen an influx of architects, interior designers, retail shops and cafés to complement the high-end car dealerships that were, for a time, its most prominent feature.
“In the beginning it was just a bunch of independent businesses,” says Mary Watson, who moved her mid-century modern furniture shop Metropolitan Home there in 2010. “It’s kind of gone through, in the nine-and-a-half years that we’ve been here, a couple of revivals. Now I’d say we definitely have a neighbourhood. And it’s filled in beautifully.”
Ravi Sidhoo of East India Carpets is considered “the unofficial mayor” of the neighbourhood.
Located west of Granville Island and north of 4th Avenue, the Armoury District is named for the Seaforth Armoury at its border on Burrard Street. Credit for the name, says Watson, should go to William MacKinnon, owner of Three Centuries Antiques.
“We realized in the neighbourhood, as it was going to develop, that it was best for us to bond together and all try to figure out what we ought to name this district,” Watson says. “It wasn’t 4th Ave, and it wasn’t Granville Street. What was it?”
Watson was initially leery about moving there. “We had been 20 years downtown and we needed to move, and we were wondering where we were going to go, and we got interested in this space,” she said. “But it seemed a bit out there. Was the neighbourhood going to take off? Because Granville Island was such a success.”
Watson says the reason that the area has taken so long to come into its own is that old bugaboo: zoning. It took Ravi Sidhoo, whom she calls “the unofficial mayor” of the district, to change things.
David Hawksworth’s Bel Café is the latest coffee shop to open in the Armoury District.
Back in 1948, Ravi’s father, Jab Sidhoo, became the first design resident of the neighbourhood when he established East India Carpets on West 2nd Avenue. He had also looked into buying other properties in a neighbourhood that was, at times, home to Nettwerk Records and the Georgia Straight. “But it was all zoned for light industry,” Watson says. “And the zoning never changed.”
Then Ravi Sidhoo had the idea of attracting more retail to the area. Neighbouring businesses banded together to send an architect to City Hall to have the zoning relaxed. “And then we could all come here,” Watson says.
“It’s interesting from a landscape point of view, and also politically,” says Tara Fraser, Sidhoo’s niece, who works at East India Carpets. “At one time this area was mostly occupied by Indian people, and there were no businesses here. When my mom and my uncle started working here, there were no other buildings.”
While the storefronts have filled in nicely, Watson says she’s also seeing more foot traffic.
“There always were the Granville Island and False Creek people. Now you also see more people out at the end of the day walking by. It’s different. And it’s interesting how we’re mixed in with the most high-end car shops in the city. And it’s so different than the rest of what we do. So it’s a nice mix of architects and designers as well.
“The neighbourhood has so improved I can hardly believe it,” Watson says. “And now you’re seeing 1st and 3rd avenues filling in. Nice cafés like Chocolate Arts, and then Hawksworth’s Bel Café. It’s amazing, all the little coffee and bake shops.”
Back in 1946, East India Carpets was the first retailer here, when the area was still mainly light industry.
Founded in 1995, the Spirit Wrestler Gallery is one of the longest-running businesses in the area. The gallery showcases Inuit, Northwest Coast and Maori artists. Gallery Jones shows contemporary art by Canadian and international artists. For antiques, visit Three Centuries and J.H. Tee Antiques (estate silverware a specialty); for fine art, Westbridge Fine Art Auction House has your ticket. But this neighbourhood is really about home décor, with stores featuring cabinetry and flooring (Troico and Frontier, respectively), Giorgio Armani’s home line (Armani/Casa), patio furniture (Brougham), and more.
Chocolate Arts is the place to go for exceptional chocolate, bonbons, pastries and coffee.
Some of Vancouver’s finest examples of indulgences are turning the neighbourhood into a food destination. These include Les Amis du Fromage and Chocolate Arts for top-of-the-line cheeses and sweets. Speaking of indulgences, the second location of Bel Café from celeb chef David Hawksworth just opened here, and is the place to be seen eating French macarons and gourmet sandwiches. For artisanal Liège waffles—and who doesn’t like waffles?—visit Pâtisserie Lebeau.
People don’t necessarily come to the Armoury District looking for parks, playgrounds or cultural events (although the offices of the Indian Summer Festival are located here). The fun here is of the aspirational sort: visiting the local shops, designers and galleries, and playing with ideas for the kind of life you’d like to live/the environment you’d like to live in. And, if you’re really aspirational, the model of Lamborghini you’d like to drive.
There may not be many condos in this stretch of the city, but there are plenty in nearby areas like Olympic Village and a little further west in Kitsilano. The Armoury District itself is all about shopping and work, and several architectural, development and interior design firms have their offices here.