PREIS, Carl George (1887-1959), of New York City, N.Y., specialised in the design of large industrial buildings for The American Can Company in both the United States and Canada and elsewhere. He joined the company after 1920, and held the position of vice-president in charge of engineering and architecture, overseeing the design and construction of large reinforced concrete structures to house the manufacturing equipment for the production of metal tins throughout North America. In 1925 he completed plans for a remarkably sophisticated five storey extension to the sprawling complex of American Can Co. buildings located near the Gastown area of downtown Vancouver. The original brick buildings for the company, located to the west, were erected in 1913 and 1916 and designed by Neil M. Loney of Chicago, served as the original west coast production facility, but by 1925 a new and larger factory was needed, which more than doubled the size of the plant. The entire complex, with its own railway siding running directly inside the building, still stands today as of 2020, and has been adapted to serve new uses including the School of Contemporary Arts for Simon Fraser University, and as commercial office and loft space.
Preis was born in Weisbaden, Germany on 9 September 1887 and arrived with his family in the United States in 1890. He was a graduate of several engineering schools, and lived and worked in New York for most of his life for the American Can Co. He later received an honorary Doctorate in Engineering from Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. From 1937 onward, he spent much of time in Florida, and that year designed a striking Art Deco mansion for himself near Tampa. The complex, now called “The Glass House”, was nearly 250 ft. long, with 17 rooms and 6,500 sq. ft., is now a residential landmark in the state. Preis retired from American Can. Co. in 1947, and later died at Plant City, Fla. on 9 May 1959 (obituary Tampa Tribune, 11 March 1959, 2).
VANCOUVER, B.C., major 5 storey addition to the American Can Co. factory, facing Railway Street, from Heatley Avenue to Jackson Avenue, but with a street address of 611 Alexander Street, 1925 (H. Kalman, Exploring Vancouver, 1993, 47, illus.; dwgs at City of Vancouver Archives; inf. Donald Luxton, Vancouver)
MONTREAL, QUE., large additions to the American Can Co. factory, facing Jeanne d'Arc Avenue near Ontario Street, 1928, and another addition 1939 (C.R., xlii, 10 Oct. 1928, descrip.; 26 Dec. 1928, descrip.; City of Montreal, Architecture Industrielle, 1982, 198-201, illus.)
SIMCOE, ONT., major addition to the American Can Co. factory, Robinson Street, 1937 (C.R., vol. 50, 5 May 1937, 31-32)
LAKE HUNTER, FLORIDA, “The Glass House”, a mansion for the architect Carl G. Preis, Valrico-Seffner Road, near Brandon, Fla., 1937 (Tampa Tribune, 24 Nov. 1963, Section G, pp. 1, 4 and 5, illus. and descrip.)