The drawings shown here were chosen for their variety and practical representation of British Columbia architecture -from the vernacular to the high style. The site is a contrast of the industrial and residential, the public and private, and the entrepreneurial and community. Everyone in British Columbia shares the common thread of old buildings that populate our towns and cities. We have all walked past the old school, city hall, the edge of town by the CPR Station, or out towards the old sawmill. Even a young country like Canada has a living history, and these buildings are documents and found sculptures linking us to the people, culture, times, events and ingenuity of the builders.
Measured Drawings are both functional and aesthetic.
This website is for students, architects, historians, and old building connoisseurs of all sorts. We hope you will take the time to explore the wonderful drawings and read about the buildings shown here. You will find elevations, sections, floor plans, details, window plans, stairwells and steeples. You will discover tools, decorative features and materials that are not used much any more. At the R.B. Mclean Sawmill you can look over the plans for a steam sawmill operation, and at Ceperly Mansion, see how an early entrepreneur built a domestic sanctuary in the rainforest of Vancouver.