WILLIAMS, William Frederick (1904 -1947), active in Nelson, B.C. for twenty years from 1927 to until his death there in December 1947. Born in Melbourne, Australia on 29 March 1904, he studied construction and building trades at Swinburne Technical College from 1918 to 1922. He then enrolled at Melbourne University in 1922 and studied architecture, and served an apprenticeship with the Melbourne firm of Blackett & Forster from 1922 to 1926.
In 1927 Williams moved to the United States and obtained a position as a draftsman in Chicago with Schmidt, Garden & Erickson (1928-29), then relocated to New York and worked in the office of Bertram G. Goodhue, a leading architect in that city (in 1929-30). From there, he moved again, this time to Montreal and joined J. Cecil McDougall where he was employed as his chief assistant in 1930-31. Williams then spent a year working in London England for the firm of Ashley & Newman (in 1931-32), then returned to Montreal and rejoined McDougall, remaining there until late 1935. In 1934 McDougall received the commission to design a substantial mansion for Selwyn Blaylock in the Kootenay Lake region of British Columbia. He dispatched Williams to Nelson, B.C. to supervise the job, and when it was completed Williams decided to stay in that town, and he opened an office there under his own name. He remained there for the rest of his career, designing distinctive buildings in Trail, Rossland, Nelson, Creston, Kimberley and other towns in the B.C.Interior.
Williams distinguished himself by winning the national competition for the Canadian Pavilion at the New York World’s Fair in 1939. His sleek modernist design, first unveiled in April 1938, was a radical departure from earlier Canadian Government exhibition pavilions erected in Dunedin, New Zealand (1925), Antwerp, Belgium (1930), and in Buenos Aires, Argentina (1931), all of which had been designed by Joseph O. Turcotte. The design by Williams was one of 155 proposals sent in by architects from across Canada, and his building opened in May 1939. Williams was later honoured for his contribution to the architecture of the World’s Fair when he was awarded a sterling silver medal and Honourary Citizenship of the City of New York by Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia in February 1940 (Nelson Daily News, 9 Feb. 1940, illus.).
Williams died suddenly at Nelson, B.C. on 20 December 1947 at the age of 43 years (obituary Trail Daily Times, 22 Dec. 1947, 1; The Province [Vancouver], 22 Dec. 1947, 6; R.A.I.C. Journal, xxv, March 1948, 98; biog. and list of works in R.A.I.C. Journal, xv, 150; biog. with port. Donald Luxton, Building The West: The Early Architects of British Columbia, 2003, 448-9, 524; inf. Architectural Inst. of British Columbia, Vancouver; inf. Elspeth Cowell, Ottawa, Ont.). After his death, his wife Ilsa J.F. Williams, who had also been educated as an architect, completed many of the commissions which were in progress in her husband’s office at the time of his death in December 1947. She later retired in 1957; the successor to her firm was David P. Fairbank, Architect, who had joined the firm in 1950.
(works in Canada and the USA)
VICTORIA, B.C., Palm Dairies, North Park Street, 1937; demol. 1993 (City of Victoria b.p. 10101, 26 May 1937; D. Luxton, Building The West, 2003, 448, illus.; Victoria Heritage Foundation, This Old House: Victoria's Heritage Neighbourhoods, Vol. 3, 2021, 107, illus. & descrip.)
TRAIL, B.C., Masonic Hall, 1937-38 (C.R., vol. 50, 11 Aug. 1937, 31; Elspeth Cowell, S.S.A.C. Bulletin, xix, March 1994, 19, illus.)
TRAIL, B.C., major addition to the Junior High School, 1937-38 (The Province [Vancouver], 9 July 1937, 2; C.R., Vol. 50, 24 Nov. 1937, 28)
TRAIL, B.C., Tadanac Hall, for Cominco Ltd., 1938 (Elspeth Cowell, S.S.A.C. Bulletin, xix, March 1994, 19, illus.)
TRAIL, B.C., St. Anthony Roman Catholic Church, 1938 (Trail Daily Times, 22 Dec. 1947, list of works)
UPPER WARFIELD, B.C., a tract of worker’s housing for Consolidated Mining & Smelting Ltd. 1938 (Trail Daily Times, 22 Dec. 1947, 1, list of works)
ROSSLAND, B.C., Rossland High School (now Cook Avenue School), 1938-39 (Trail Daily Times, 22 Dec. 1947, list of works)
NEW YORK CITY, N.Y., The Canadian Pavilion at the New York World's Fair, 1938-39 (C.R., li, 27 April 1938, 20, illus. & descrip.; 21 Sept. 1938, 13, illus. & descrip.; R.A.I.C. Journal, xv, April 1938, 78, illus.; Ottawa Journal, 6 Oct. 1938, 4, descrip.; Elspeth Cowell, “The Canadian Pavilion at the 1939 New York World’s Fair” in the Society for the Study of Architecture in Canada Bulletin, xix, No. 1, March 1994, 13-20, illus.)
TRAIL, B.C., Cafeteria and Pattern Storage Building, for Cominco Ltd., 1940-41 (Elspeth Cowell, S.S.A.C. Bulletin, March 1994, 20, illus.)
TRAIL, B.C., Palm Dairies Ltd., 1946 (Trail Daily Times, 22 Dec. 1947, list of works)
NELSON, B.C., MacKay & Stretton Store, 1947 (Trail Daily Times, 22 Dec. 1947, list of works; Elspeth Cowell, S.S.A.C. Bulletin, March 1994, 20, illus.)
ROSSLAND, B.C., Bowladrome Bowling Alley, 1947 (Trail Daily Times, 22 Dec. 1947, list of works)
CRESTON, B.C., Canadian Legion Hall, 1947 (Trail Daily Times, 22 Dec. 1947, list of works)
KIMBERLEY, B.C., Canadian Legion Hall, 1947 (Trail Daily Times, 22 Dec. 1947, list of works)
NELSON, B.C., Mount St. Francis Home for the Aged, for the Sisters of St. Anne, designed by W.F. Williams 1947; completed by Ilsa J.C. Williams 1948-50 (C.R., lxii, Feb. 1949, 148; R.A.I.C. Journal, xxvii, Sept. 1950, 298-99, illus.)
COMPETITIONS
ONTARIO, The Ideal Ontario Home Competition, sponsored by T. Eaton Co. Department Stores, 1930. Williams was one of 239 architects, draftsmen and architectural students from across Canada who submitted a design in this ideas competition while he was working in Montreal. His design was surprisingly conservative and traditional (R.A.I.C. Journal, vii, April 1930, 147, illus.). For his effort, he was awarded a Merit Prize of $250.00. The winner was Harold Savage of Toronto.
CANADA, Dominion Housing Act Small House Competition, 1936. A total of 526 designs were sent in from architects across Canada. Williams submitted two separate designs in this national competition, both presented in a traditional Tudor Revival style (R.A.I.C. Journal, xiii, May 1936, 89, 91 and 96, illus.). For his effort, Williams was awarded the Third Prize, as well as an Honourable Mention for his two proposals. The winner of this competition was William Ralston of Toronto.
ONTARIO, The Small House Competition, sponsored by T. Eaton Co. Department Stores, 1936. Williams was among 106 competitors from across Canada, and his striking modernist design received an Honourable Mention (R.A.I.C. Journal, xiii, July 1936, 129, 135, illus.). The winners were Wilkes & Fisher of Toronto, and Kent Barker of Toronto.
ONTARIO, The Medium House Competition, sponsored by T. Eaton Co. Department Stores, 1936. From a group of 43 designs submitted, Williams was awarded the overall Grand Prize of $500, as well as the First Award of $1,000 in this category for his progressive scheme (R.A.I.C. Journal, xiii, July 1936, 128-29, illus.).