architecture – Duncan Sightseeing

25 Craig Street is now the Craig Street Brew Pub, a popular downtown Duncan restaurant and pub which brews its own craft beer on site. The Craig Street Brew Pub has been in the building since 2004, but 25 Craig Street also has an interesting history going back to 1929.

25 Craig Street was designed and built in 1929 by Vancouver architect William Frederick Gardiner (1884-1951) as a gas station and garage for the Home Oil Company of Vancouver.

Today this may seem an unlikely location for a gas station and garage but it made complete sense in 1929.

At that time, the intersection of Craig Street and Government Street was part of the Island Highway, which, at that time, was the main north-south road transportation corridor between Victoria and Nanaimo. The intersection of Craig Street and Government Street was the first Duncan intersection north bound travellers would encounter, so there was an excellent business case for a gas station and garage here. Continue reading Featured Historic Duncan Building for February 2016 – 25 Craig Street

William Frederick Gardiner (1884-1951) was a prominent architect in Vancouver, B.C. Here is a partial list of his projects.

We have included this page about William Frederick Gardiner on duncansightseeing.com because he designed 25 Craig Street, a well known building in downtown Duncan which is now the Craig Street Brew Pub, a popular downtown restaurant and pub which brews its own craft beer onsite.

As far as we currently know, 25 Craig Street is the only building William Frederick Gardiner designed in Duncan. At the time we posted this, the Canadian architectural websites we checked did not credit William Frederick Gardiner with the design of 25 Craig Street or any other Duncan or Cowichan Valley buildings.

25 Craig Street, now the Craig Street Brew Pub — Craig Street Brew Pub, 25 Craig Street

William Frederick Gardiner designed and built 25 Craig Street in 1929 for the Home Oil Company, a Vancouver based petroleum refiner which also ran a chain of gas station and garages through which it retailed its products.

The Home Oil Company had William Frederick Gardiner design this building as a gas station and garage. Today this may seem an unlikely location for a gas station and garage but it made complete sense in 1929. Continue reading William Frederick Gardiner – the Vancouver architect who designed 25 Craig Street in 1929