Since UBC moved to Point Grey in 1925, the University has worked on campus planning. While many new buildings have been constructed, several campus facilities have been demolished, renovated, or absorbed into other buildings for various reasons; for example, to make room for future development and providing better services. If you are interested in discovering our past, join us on a trip to explore the photographs and sketches of these vanished buildings from the UBC Archives Photograph Collection.

Sedgewick Library

Before becoming the basement of Walter C. Koerner Library in 1996, Sedgewick Library was a former underground library located at 1958 Main Mall. One of the architectural features was two mirrored skylights, allowing more natural light into the library. We can easily spot this outstanding feature in these photos taken from different angles.	Sedgewick Library skylight on Main Mall, [between 1970 and 1979]
Roof of Sedgewick Library	Construction of Sedgewick Library, [1971 or 1972]
Sedgewick Library drawings, 1969-01-01	Sedgewick Library construction, 1973-01-01

Bookstore

Bookstore, [between 1980 and 1989]	Located in the centre of the campus, UBC Bookstore completed its expansion and renovation in 2014. We can see from the following photos and sketch what the bookstore looked like in the 1980s.
Bookstore, [between 1980 and 1989]	Bookstore, [between 1980 and 1989]
Bookstore sketch, [between 1980 and 1989]

Home Economics Building

Located at the Northwest corner of University Boulevard and East Mall, the Home Economics Building opened its door in 1949 and was torn down 40 years later to build the Chemistry-Physics Building.	Construction of the Home Economics Building, 1949-08-25
Home Economics Building	Home Economics Building – Sketches

Piggery and Dairy Barn

Piggery, [between 1920 and 1939]	Designed by the same architect, the Piggery and Dairy Barn were the farm buildings located on Agronomy Road. The Piggery and Dairy Barn operated from 1925 to 1968, and from 1918 to 1974, respectively.
View of piggery	Dairy barn, [1970]
Dairy Barn prior to demolition, 1974-09	Demolition of Dairy Barn, 1974-09

Armoury

The Armoury was built on the East side of West Mall in 1941 and pulled down in 1993. Initially, it served as a military training venue for World War II. After World War II, this building was used for holding university events like examinations and graduation ceremonies.	Officers “at ease” in the University training division
Armoury, 1943-07-20	View of the Armoury just prior to demolition, 1993-09

Empire pool

Construction of Empire Pool, 1954-06-14	The Empire pool was built in 1954 for the British Empire & Commonwealth Games and demolished in 2016, two years after its closure. This facility located at 6081 University Boulevard is now replaced by MacInnis Family Field and UBC Central.
Empire pool, 1978-01-01	View of Empire Pool, 1985-01-01

We hope you find this journey enlightening. To explore more buildings that no longer exist on campus and learn what happened to them, please check out UBC Archives Photograph Collection and University of British Columbia Archives.