The Tulip Tree
Liriodendron Tulipifera

This gallery is a tribute to a magnificent tulip tree located in the 1200 block of Harwood Street in Vancouver, BC’s West End. These photos were taken in winter, spring, summer and fall over a period of 4 years. The tulip tree was planted around 1903 in the garden of Eastwood Manor coinciding with the manor’s construction. The house is considered a good example of English Arts and Crafts style and has been granted heritage status by the city.

The tulip tree is 107 years old, around 120 feet tall, and is considered a very fine and rare example of its species in Vancouver. It is one the largest deciduous trees in the region. Along with the tree’s size, age, and good health, it is unique in terms of its crown and symmetry. The unusual leaf shape of the tulip tree is unlike that of any other tree. Tulip-shaped green and orange flowers, which give the tree its name, are borne upright on the ends of twigs on mature specimens. It is considered one of the finest historic trees in the West End and a significant landmark in the area.

Unfortunately, the tulip tree is now at the centre of a construction controversy. The owners of the property it sits on have applied to the city to remove the tree, keep the heritage house and build an 18 storey tower on the same property. Although this tower height is outside the neighbourhood zoning by-laws, the city of Vancouver has something called a bonus density. In this case it is extra height and floor space granted for the tower in return for rehabilitation and legal protection of the heritage house now known as Eastwood Place. The sale of the condo suites in the tower generates funds for the owner of the heritage site; helping to defray rehabilitation costs.

It may seem strange to build a modern 18 storey glass tower alongside a heritage house from the early 1900’S, but this is happening more frequently in Vancouver. Sometimes only the facade of the building is saved and incorporated into the new tower. Originally, it was attempted by the city to declare the tulip tree as heritage to save it and get even more density, but its root ball extends to an adjacent property and the tree’s future safety could not be guaranteed. At a recent meeting, a handout by the city gives neighbours the option to declare that they would rather see the heritage house removed and an 11 storey tower built in the centre of the property which would be in line with existing by-laws. In either case, the tree will be lost. The view held by the developer and architects is that without extra density (even more than the planned 18 storey tower), it will be too expensive to build around the tree, as well as the danger to 40% of the root ball being on the neighbouring property.

Many local inhabitants feel the planned tower will also significantly change the character of the neighbourhood. In an already a massively dense area, the open garden view with the tulip tree will be lost; the tower will be high-end in a city that is desperately in need of affordable housing, and adjacent properties will be significantly shaded. Finally, after all this change, such high-end buildings are not unknown to sometimes have absentee landlords who do not rent out, as can be observed by the absence of light in many suites in the evening.

Vancouver’s current city council, dominated by the Vision Party, has a bold new ambition: to be the greenest city in the world by 2020. Hopefully its green vision will extend to saving this truly wonderful tree.