2nd AVENUE LOFTS
Formerly the site of the Nicholson building owned by one of Saskatoon’s earliest merchants, J.F. Cairns.1 The Hudson Bay Company acquired the property in 1922 and it operated as a department store until 1958 when it was announced that a new HBC store would be built. By 1960, a new 3 storey 157,000 sqft was complete which later grew to 4 storeys and 200,000 sqft of retail space. Now a converted 5 storey condo building with main foor retail space, it remains an iconic piece of Saskatoon’s downtown with its geometric mosaic tile mural and punched tyndall stone facade.1
1 Morton, Alan L. Optimistic View, November 2007
2 Saskatoon Star Phoenix. June 16, 1960
By Architect Moody & Moore
The jewelry and ornament were inspired by original mural pattern that was conceived in Winnipeg and was sent to Italy to be cut.
STURDY STONE
Named after John Sturdy and Arthur Stone, prominent Saskatonians, the Sturdy Stone Center was completed in 1978.1 Its iconic form was designed to resemble a truncated prism.1 Built of reinforced concrete and clad with tyndall stone, it speaks to the Brutalist era of architecture.2 Energy conservation and integration of clay works by artists Sures, Hardy, Woolsey, Malach, Cicansky and Billyard were intrinsic to the overall design.1 It today still stands to house offices and retail space in downtown Saskatoon.
1 Local History Room. Saskatoon Public Library. LH8847.
2 Local History Room. Saskatoon Public Library. LH8848.
Architect Forrester, Scott, Bowers, Walls, Architects and Engineer
The jewelry and ornament were inspired by the building’s dramatic perspective from the pedestrian’s point of view.
