B.C. Binning House, 1941

• Constructed 1941
• Location West Vancouver, BC
• Design Bertram Charles Binning
• Architect C.E. Ned Pratt, R.A.D. Berwick
• Landscape Cornelia Hahn Oberlander
• Use Dwelling
• Designations
  National Historic Site of Canada (1997)
  Municipally-Designated Heritage Property (1999)
  Primary Building, West Vancouver Survey of Significant Architecture 1945-1975
• Status
  WCML Watch List

The B.C. Binning House is widely recognized for its many firsts: the first modern building on Canada’s west coast, the first flat-roofed building in Canada to qualify for a CMHC mortgage, and the first building to demonstrate the design principles of West Coast Modernism.

B.C. Binning was a renowned B.C. artist and champion for regional architecture and design. Designed by B.C. Binning, with Charles E. (Ned) Pratt and R.A.D. Berwick, and completed in 1941, the Binning House is revered in artistic, architectural, and heritage circles as a standing testament to Binning’s artistic influence, and to his pivotal role in the emergence of a regional architectural expression of modernism on the west coast (West Coast Modernism). Beyond being a cultural hub in the artistic and architectural communities, the Binning House stands as Canada’s first modern residence, and a pioneering example of the principles that have come to define West Coast Modernism and city building efforts across the region. Under the auspices of Jesse Binning, who acted to preserve the house and surrounding grounds, it was recognized as a Municipally Designated Heritage Property in 1999, governed by Heritage Designation Bylaw No. 4157 and Heritage Maintenance Bylaw No. 4187, and a National Historic Site of Canada in 1997.