Architectural influences range from one end of Trinidad and Tobago's cultural spectrum to the other. First settled by the Spaniards, there are few examples of typical colonial urban domestic Spanish Architecture. The structure commonly known as the "Cabildo" is one such example, but this was built after the British conquest. During Spanish colonisation, under the Cedula of Population of 1773, in an attempt to develop Trinidad, immigration was encouraged, the only stipulation being that the immigrants be Catholic. This brought an influx of French settlers and their slaves, mainly from Martinique and Grenada. Trinidad's population by the end of the eighteenth century was predominantly French.

After the Spanish capitulated to the British in 1797, Trinidad became a British Colony, with a French population, governed by Spanish law. Governor Sir Ralph Woodford in the early 1800's was particularly concerned with disciplined urban development and with careful planning creating in Port of Spain a well laid out pattern of streets broken by several open squares with a large, heavily landscaped promenade, Marine Square, now known as Independence Square, along the sea front. Woodford was also responsible for the purchase of Paradise Estate for the Queens Park Savannah, a large park which has been described as the "lungs" of Port of Spain. Trinidad's early nineteenth century Architecture was typical of the Neo-Classical style popular under British colonial rule. The St. James Barracks and Port of Spain General Hospital are typical examples. Woodford also sponsored the construction of the Roman Catholic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception on Marine Square and the Anglican Holy Trinity Cathedral on Woodford Square. Virtually all of the important buildings from the nineteenth century were ecclesiastical or public buildings.  Later in the century buildings became more decorative as demonstrated by the architecture of the Red House by Architect Daniel M. Hahn and later Queen's Royal College.

St. James Barracks
1827

Urban buildings were initially built of wood with simple details. Substantial areas of Port of Spain were destroyed by fire on several occasions in the nineteenth century, regularly changing its architecture and upgrading standards. In the 1880's Architect George Brown of Scotland brought the Victorian elements of wooden fretwork, steep pitched gables crowned by finials to domestic architecture and decorative cast iron columns and balustrading to commercial architecture. After the great fire in Port of Spain of 1895, Brown redesigned the main commercial area including Marine Square and lower Frederick Street, with a distinctive style which included verandahs extending over the pavements providing shade and shelter to pedestrians. Internal spaces were planned around large atriums with high clerestory windows to provide good cross ventilation and light. Until the beginning of the twentieth century central Port of Spain was the social centre, with the families of merchants living above their commercial outlets.

Frederick Street, Port of Spain, looking toward Woodford Square.
About 1900

Trinidad's economy was agricultural with large sugar and cocoa estates. The estate great houses were generally architecturally simple. One remaining example is the Boissiere Estate House in Maraval, now occupied by the Trinidad Country Club. In the late eighteenth century came the influence of George Brown, providing additional and in some cases complex, decorative elements. Coblentz House in St. Ann's, now demolished, and La Pastora Estate House in Santa Cruz are fine examples of this style.

Coblentz House
St. Ann's

Trinidad and Tobago's nineteenth and twentieth century architectural heritage ranges from religious structures - churches, mosques and mandirs to military and public buildings to residential buildings of various influences. This mix is seen particularly around the Queen's Park Savannah in Port of Spain, where eccentric early twentieth century mansions of the wealthy planters and businessmen reflect the cultural influences of the owners, many in unusual combination - English, French, Moorish, Indian and German among others.

The twentieth century also brought with it various contemporary architectural styles, including art deco, of which Treasury Building on Independence Square and the McEnearny buildings in Port of Spain and San Fernando are fine examples, and later the modernist movement as with the Eric Williams Financial Complex and post-modern architecture, predominantly seen in new offices in the St. Clair suburb of Port of Spain.

McEnearney's Building
Edward Street,  Port of Spain

Geoffrey MacLean
All photographs courtesy Geoffrey MacLean
May 2010