An extant asset
It seems like I scheduled a visit to these Vancouver malls just in time. While I was too late to see Oakridge Park in its traditional form, I did find out later that destinations Lansdowne and Brentwood are slated for a full redevelopment. And it seems that another I hit just in time was the Richmond Centre.
1 & 2- The mall entrance closest to the Skytrain station. 3- An overview of the Richmond Centre with some of the mid-risers being built behind. 4 to 6- Rooftop parking in between the food court and Hudson’s Bay.
As I arrived at the southern terminus of the Canada Line at Richmond-Brighouse Station, I could see that the southernmost portion of Richmond Centre was undergoing a transformation. Mid-risers are being built in the parking lot and on the former footprint of Sears Canada.
The mid-twentieth century Hudson’s Bay store. They and their fantastically retro stores will surely be missed.
However, the vast majority of the shopping center still remains. I entered at the northeastern mall entrance across from the SkyTrain station to find myself in yet another facility laid out with its corridors in a rectangular racetrack. Seems fitting that an actual racetrack once stood where the complex is now.
Richmond Centre mallmanac ca. 2023. View the full PDF version here.
I traversed the whitewashed concourses starting near H&M to the south then back to the north toward Hudson’s Bay. In between was your basic mall selection of shops and eateries with nothing to really differentiate it from any number of competitors in the area.
1 & 2- The front façade of Richmond Centre including main mall entrance 2. 3 & 4- Mall entrance 4 and its surrounding exterior. 5 to 7- Mall entrance 5 in the rear of the complex with surrounding construction. 8- Richmond Centre from the Richmond-Brighouse Skytrain Station.
But once at the Hudson’s Bay store, I realized that I was seeing something special. Though I’ve always admired the vintage look of the venerable Canadian retailer’s façades at other locations and how they haven’t been “modernized” of all personality, this outlet was truly noteworthy.
The main central concourse running from entrance 3 to Richmond Centre’s rear leads to the mall’s only upper level section containing the food court.
From the arched atrium entrances to the rounded cornices of repeating domes to the repeating rectangular blocks of mud brown brick contrasting with the bowed columns holding them up from below, this Hudson’s Bay exterior was quite the amalgamation of brutalist, mid-century modern and googie elements. I absolutely loved it.
Richmond Centre’s food court called the Dining Terrace.
Known as Richmond Square Shopping Centre at its 1964 opening, the new retail destination boasted Simpson-Sears and Zellers as its dual anchors. In the beginning, Simpson-Sears was located where the food court is today while Zellers occupied the space now home to SportChek.
The maze of concourses on Richmond Centre’s northern half including H&M.
Just a couple of years later, the fantastic Hudson’s Bay store was constructed to the north of Richmond Square as a separate building with its own attached concourse of smaller stores. The twin facilities were divided by Cook Road before the thoroughfare was truncated years later.
Richmond Centre lease plan ca. 2025. View the full PDF version here.
The most significant changes came to Richmond Square at the latter part of the eighties as the competing centers were combined into one. Sears moved from its mid-mall home to a newly constructed building on the south end. The former location of the Chicago based retailer was eventually converted to the upper level food court and lower level shops seen today.
Richmond Centre’s mase of corridors in its southern half, including Old Navy.
Once these changes had been completed, the name Richmond Centre came into use. Over the years, Zellers departed to be replaced with a SportChek junior anchor but even that name may need to relocate as the redevelopment started in 2019 proposes that the building be demolished for several new buildings.
1 to 6- Inside Richmond Centre. 7 & 8- The Hudson’s Bay interior mall entrance.
Like its peers Brentwood Town Centre and Lougheed Mall, I don’t expect Richmond Centre to be around in its present form for much longer. I just hope that nothing happens to the uniquely vintage façade of the former Hudson’s Bay, though I’ve set my expectations for disappointment.
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