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Devenish Apartments
Calgary
Other Names:
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Devenish Design Centre
Devenish Block
Devenish Building
Devenish Centre
Devenish Heritage Building
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Statement of Significance
Description of Historic Place
The Devenish Apartments building is an early twentieth century, red brick building located on five lots of a very narrow block in Calgary's Lower Mount Royal district. The building is organized into several irregular three storey bays and features rough faced stone trims, wood balconies, and a parapet capped with sandstone.
Heritage Value
The heritage value of the Devenish Apartments building lies in its association with the pre-World War One building boom in Calgary and its unique architectural style.
Growing agricultural prosperity and the expansion of Alberta's railway network in the pre-World War One period precipitated a dramatic increase in the number of Calgary residents. Between 1909 and 1913, the city's population more than doubled; the resultant housing shortages sparked a construction boom. O.G. Devenish and Company, a firm established in 1903, contributed significantly to the expansion of residential suburbs to accommodate the city's swelling populace, establishing such subdivisions as Westmount, Capitol Hill, and Manchester. The Devenish Apartments building, constructed in 1911, was one of several luxurious complexes erected to house the city's burgeoning entrepreneurial and managerial class. The promotional campaign for the Devenish Apartments trumpeted it as the largest, most modern apartment block in the West, complete with all the conveniences of modern living, including telephones, laundry rooms, and built-in furniture.
Designed by architect Alexander Pirie, the Devenish Apartments building features an eclectic mix of architectural styles. Drawing particularly upon the Queen Anne Revival style of architecture, the apartment complex expresses an energy through the undulating horizontal rhythm of its three facades - created through an irregular series of recessed entryways, bays, and balconies - and its dichromatic facade of red brick with stone trim. The design emphasizes balance, rather than symmetry, and initially featured picturesque vertical elements like shaped parapets and crenellated turrets (now removed) that offset the building's horizontality. Some of the exterior elements, including bay windows, large banks of windows, and balconies, were determined by interior considerations. Seeking to dispel the image of apartment life as cramped and uncomfortable, Pirie incorporated architectural features emphasizing light and space. The design of the Devenish Apartments building offers a vision of artistry, dynamism, and spaciousness.
Source: Alberta Culture and Community Spirit, Historic Resources Management Branch (File: Des. 246)
Character-Defining Elements
The character-defining elements of the Devenish Apartments include such features as:
- mass, form, and style;
- three street frontages;
- irregular roofline featuring parapet trimmed with sandstone;
- octagonal corner bays;
- bell cast hoods supported by brackets;
- projections and indented entranceways;
- rough-faced stone and sandstone trims, geometric stone designs;
- balconies and supporting brackets and columns;
- window openings;
- central hallways;
- original interior features, including staircases, mouldings and trims, hardwood floors, brick interior walls, built-in furniture, doors, and fittings.
Location
| Street Address: |
904 to 908 - 17 Avenue SW |
| Community: |
Calgary |
| Boundaries: |
Lots 6 to 10, Block 120, Plan A1 |
| Contributing Resources: |
Building: 1
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ATS Legal Description:
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Mer |
Rge |
Twp |
Sec |
LSD |
5
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1
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24
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16
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2 (ptn.)
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PBL Legal Description (Cadastral Reference):
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Plan |
Block |
Lot |
Parcel |
SA1
SA1
SA1
SA1
SA1
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120
120
120
120
120
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9
8
7
6
10
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Latitude/Longitude:
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Latitude |
Longitude |
CDT |
Datum Type |
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51.037998 |
-114.082514 |
GPS |
NAD 83 |
UTM Reference:
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Northing |
Easting |
Zone |
CDT |
Datum Type |
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|
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Recognition
| Recognition Authority: |
Province of Alberta |
| Designation Status: |
Provincial Historic Resource |
| Date of Designation: |
1982/08/03 |
Historical Information
| Built: |
1911 to 1911 |
| Period of Significance: |
N/A |
| Theme(s): |
Expressing Intellectual and Cultural Life : Architecture and Design
Peopling the Land : Settlement
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| Historic Function(s): |
Residence : Multiple Dwelling
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| Current Function(s): |
Residence : Multiple Dwelling
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| Architect: |
Alexander Pirie
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| Builder: |
O.G. Devenish and Company
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| Context: |
HERITAGE SIGNIFICANCE
The firm O.G. Devenish and Company was founded in Calgary in 1903. Devenish, a native of Indiana, began his financial career in Calgary with investments in real estate. The business continued to evolve into a most substantial company offering investment, insurance, loan and real estate related services. In 1914, Mr. Devenish was president of the Calgary Industrial and Development Bureau.
The Devenish Company was involved in the development of residential suburbs and placed on the market such well-known subdivisions as Westmount, Capitol Hill, and Manchester. Owing to the rapid growth of population the demand for well-situated houses in Calgary far exceeded the supply, and the construction of a series of apartment houses was designed to meet this need. Among the Devenish Apartment blocks amenities were telephones, a laundry room, built-in furniture, and extensive safety features.
The 57-suite Devenish Apartment block was constructed in 1911 at a cost of 200,000 dollars and was based on designs by Alexander Pirie, a Calgary architect. Advertised at the time of its construction as 'the largest and most up-to-date building of its kind in the west', the Devenish Apartments project the image of handsome solidity for which it was renowned in 1911. The owners and developers of apartment structures in this period worked through their advertising to dispel any notion that apartment living was in any way cramped or uncomfortable. Advertisements emphasized the built-in conveniences of the apartment block and the design features that heped create a sense of spaciousness, including bay windows, relatively large window areas, and balconies. The external appearance of the Devenish was thus partially determined by interior space considerations. The structure is massed in three major blocks to allow inset entranceways and balconies. A complex rhythm of irregular bays creates an asymmetrical horizontal pattern once balanced by picturesque vertical elements (gables and turrets) which no longer exist.
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Additional Information
| Object Number: |
4665-0561 |
| Designation File: |
DES 0246 |
| Related Listing(s): |
4664-0259
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| Heritage Survey File: |
HS 15801
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| Website Link: |
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| Data Source: |
Alberta Culture and Community Spirit, Historic Resources Management Branch, Old St. Stephen's College, 8820 - 112 Street, Edmonton, AB T6G 2P8 (File: Des. 246) |
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