HAVILL, James Layrock (1873-1947) was active in Toronto, Ont. where he was best known as Chief Architect for the Imperial Oil Co. and can be credited with the design of dozens of auto service stations across Canada constructed at the dawn of the automobile age from 1915 to 1924. Born in Walkerton, Ont. on 14 July 1873, he trained under J. Francis Brown (in June 1892 to August 1895), and with Strickland & Symons (in Aug. 1895 to March 1897). He left Toronto in 1897 and moved to New York City to take a position with Clinton & Russell, a leading firm of architects who perfected the Beaux-Arts style for commercial buildings, and remained with them for ten years. Havill returned to Toronto in May 1907 and opened his own office, specializing in the design of industrial and commercial blocks. In August 1915 he accepted an appointment as staff architect to the Imperial Oil Co. to oversee the designs for their service stations in cities and towns from Victoria B.C. eastward to the province of Quebec. He persuaded his former employers in New York, Clinton & Russell, to collaborate with him on the design of the corporate Head Office building for Imperial Oil Ltd., located on Church Street in Toronto. He resigned from this post in June 1924, and re-opened his own office, but the stock market collapse and subsequent financial depression forced him to close his office in September 1931. Havill later died in Toronto on 16 March 1947 (obituary Toronto Star, 17 March 1947, 22; Globe & Mail [Toronto], 17 March 1947, 26; inf. Ontario Association of Architects).
(works in Toronto)
SMART BAG CO., Logan Avenue at Dickens Street, factory, 1907 (City of Toronto b.p. 8598, 25 July 1907)
BROADVIEW AVENUE, at Hogarth Avenue, residence for James Harris, 1908 (City of Toronto b.p. 11556, 22 June 1908)
QUEEN STREET EAST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, Queen Street East at Carlaw Avenue, new Sunday School, and alterations to existing church, 1908 (City of Toronto b.p. 12594, 18 September 1908)
BINSCARTH ROAD, residence for Henry B. Bishopric, 1909 (C.R., xxiii, 10 Feb. 1909, 21)
DUNLOP TIRE CO., Booth Avenue at Natelie Street, factory for James L. Havill (in Trust), 1909; major addition, 1911-12 (City of Toronto b.p. 17392, 23 September 1909; C.R., xxv, 27 December 1911, 68)
MIMICO, residence for Dr. William Woods, Superior Avenue at Stanley Avenue, c.1910, a design based on an earlier award-winning plan by the Boston architect William G. Rantoul (1867-1949) as published in
the Ladies Home Journal [New York], xxii, July 1905, 9, illus. & descrip., and later modified by Havill in 1910, still standing in 2024 (Globe & Mail [Toronto], 15 March 2024, p. H3, illus, and descrip.; inf. Michael Harrison, Toronto)
DUNLOP TIRE CO., Adelaide Street West near Shepherd Street, showroom and warehouse, 1910 (City of Toronto b.p. 20938, 1 June 1910)
HOTEL GERRARD, Parliament Street at Gerrard Street East, 1910 (City of Toronto b.p. 21885, 7 July 1910; Const., v, Sept. 1912, 74-5, illus. & descrip.)
HOLT, RENFREW & CO., Yonge Street at Adelaide Street West, retail store, 1910; dismantled and facades relocated one block north at Yonge Street and Temperance Street, 2015-17 (Toronto Star Weekly, 25 June 1910, 15, detailed architectural descrip.; City of Toronto b.p. 18809, 12 January 1910; P. McHugh, Toronto Architecture: A City Guide, 1985, 64, illus.; Globe & Mail [Toronto], 17 Aug. 2018, H9, illus. & descrip.)
PINCHIN & JOHNSON VARNISH CO., Carlaw Avenue near Gerrard Street East, factory, 1910-11 (Const., iv, March 1911, 61, illus.)
C.A. DUNHAM & CO., Davenport Road at Primrose Avenue, factory, 1911; with addition of a warehouse, Davenport Road at Lightbourne Avenue, 1927 (Evening Times-Republican [Marshalltown, Iowa], 26 July 1911, 8, descrip.; C.R., xli, 19 Jan. 1927, 47)
J.M. SINCLAIR BUILDING, c. 1912 (Toronto Society of Architects Exhibition Catalogue, May 1912, 16)
JOSEPH GRIFFIN BUILDING, c. 1912 (Toronto Society of Architects Exhibition Catalogue, May 1912, 16)
PLAYTER BOULEVARD, near Hurndale Avenue, residence for George F. Barry, 1912 (City of Toronto b.p. 34303, 23 May 1912)
COMPUTING SCALE CO. OF CANADA, Royce Avenue at Campbell Avenue, factory, 1912 (City of Toronto b.p. 36390, 30 July 1912)
BRUNSWICK-BALKE-COLLENDER CO., Hannah Avenue, factory, 1913 (C.R., xxvii, 26 Feb. 1913, 68; City of Toronto b.p. 3077, 11 April 1913)
LADIES WEAR BUILDING, College Street at Manning Avenue, warehouse, 1914 (City of Toronto b.p. 11491, 12 May 1914; Const., xi, Jan. 1918, 29-30, illus.; Toronto Architectural Conservancy, College Street - Part One, 2012, 47-48, illus. & descrip.)
(with Clinton & Russell, New York) IMPERIAL OIL LTD., Church Street at Court Street, office building, 1915-17; demol. c. 1960 (Const., viii, Dec. 1915, 513; x, March 1917, 78-88, illus & descrip.)
PEARL STREET, near Duncan Street, warehouse for J.W. Woods, 1917 (Const., x, October 1917, 364)
IMPERIAL OIL LTD., Danforth Avenue near Broadview Avenue, gas station, 1917 (Const., xii, March 1919, 77-8, illus.)
IMPERIAL OIL LTD., Queen Street West at Sunnyside, gas station, 1917 (Const., xii, March 1919, 77-8, illus.)
IMPERIAL OIL LTD., Yonge Street at Roxborough Street West, gas station, 1917 (City of Toronto b.p. 14145, 22 Sept. 1917; Const., xii, March 1919, 77-8, illus.)
IMPERIAL OIL LTD., Queen Street East at Kingston Road, gas station, 1920-21 (C.R., xxxiv, 3 Nov. 1920, 54)
IMPERIAL OIL LTD., Dundas Street West at Roncesvalles Avenue, gas station, 1920-21 (C.R., xxxiv, 3 Nov. 1920, 54)
(with Robert B. McGiffin) DOMINION RUBBER CO. LTD., proposal for a 15 storey office tower, Front Street East at Yonge Street, 1927, but not built (C.R., xli, 29 June 1927, 51)
W.C. WARBURTON & CO., Bloor Street West at Manning Avenue, auto garage and service building for the Ford Motor Co., 1928-29 (City of Toronto b.p. B4019, 11 Dec. 1928)
(works elsewhere)
VANCOUVER, B.C., auto service station for Imperial Oil Ltd., c. 1918 (Const., xii, March 1919, 76, illus.)
WINNIPEG, MAN., auto service station for Imperial Oil Ltd., c. 1918 (Const., xii, March 1919, 76, illus.)
VICTORIA, B.C., auto service station for Imperial Oil Ltd., c. 1918 (Const., xii, March 1919, 75, illus.)
LETHBRIDGE, ALTA., auto service station for Imperial Oil Ltd., c. 1918 (Const., xii, March 1919, 75, illus.)
COMPETITIONS
MEAFORD, ONT., Town Hall, 1907-08. Havill was one of seven Ontario architects who submitted a design in the competition for this civic building in November 1907 (inf. Fred Kennedy, Heritage Meaford). His proposal was later set aside in favour of the winning scheme by Ellis & Connery of Toronto.