NICOLLS, Frank Willoughby (1895-1983), a native of Hamilton, Ontario who began his career in nearby Brantford in 1914. He trained in the office of Barber & Tilley Architects, but in September 1914 it was reported that he had left Canada and moved to New York City to enroll at the School of Architecture at Columbia University (Brantford Daily Expositor, 5 Sept. 1914, 5; and 23 Oct. 1916, 7). By late 1916 he had returned to Brantford to rejoin Lloyd Barber, and opened an office there (Const. x, May 1917, 186). Born in Hamilton on 12 November 1895, he continued to work in the Brantford area until after 1924 when he moved to Detroit, Mich. After 1932 he moved to Ottawa, Ont. where he served as Director of Housing for the National Housing Administration office from 1935 to 1946. He then moved from Ontario to Victoria, B.C. in 1947 and was successor to the practise of Hugh C. Perram He was briefly in partnership in 1951 with John A. Di Castri (1924-2005), an important modernist architect who had trained under the well-known American architect Bruce Goff in Oklahoma. Nicolls continued his career in Victoria as a professional architect, and was later elected as a Fellow of the R.A.I.C. in 1974. Nicolls died in Saanich, B.C. on 19 July 1983 (obituary Times-Colonist [Victoria], 21 July 1983, D 2; biog. Victoria Daily Times, 19 Feb. 1948, 11).
FRANK W. NICOLLS (works in Ontario)
PARIS, ONT., Young Women's Christian Assoc., 1917 (Brantford Expositor, 17 March 1917, 6, t.c.)
BRANTFORD, ONT., a large tract of 100 moderate cost homes at Deverwood Park, for the Brantford Realty Co., along Colborne Street, from Stanley Heights to Park Road, 1918-19 (Brantford Expositor, 28 Dec. 1918, 8, descrip.)
BRANTFORD, ONT., residence for Frank Nicolls, architect, Echo Place, 1920-21 (Brantford Expositor, 2 Feb 1921, 6)
BURFORD, ONT., High School, 1921-22 (Brantford Expositor, 7 June 1921, 13, t.c.; and 18 Aug. 1922, 9; and 2 Feb. 1922, 14, descrip.; Catalogue for the International Casement Window Co., 1922, list of buildings utilizing windows from this firm)
HICKSON, ONT., public school, 1922 (Brantford Expositor, 21 Feb. 1922, 13, t.c.)
BRANTFORD, ONT. an apartment house, for an unnamed client, 1922 (C.R., xxvi, 5 July 1922, 54)
BRANTFORD, ONT., St. Ann's Roman Catholic School, Pearl Street at Richmond Street, 1923; still standing in 2022 (Brantford Expositor, 20 July 1923, 6, descrip.; and 24 Jan. 1924, 8, illus. & descrip.)
BRANTFORD, ONT., Indoor Ice Arena, Colborne Street West, near the GTR tracks, 1922-23 (C.R., xxxvi, 4 Oct. 1922, 54; Brantford Expositor, 24 Oct. 1922, 5; and 27 April 1923, 6)
BRANTFORD, ONT., The Lorne Bridge, Colborne Street, over the Grand River, 1922-23 (Brantford Expositor, 30 Dec. 1922, 5, illus. & descrip.)
Q.E.W. HIGHWAY, between Hamilton and Toronto, a 3 storey auto service station with apartments, for C.A. Hamel, 1923 (Brantford Expositor, 30 July 1923, 6)
LONDON, ONT., Iroquois Hotel, King Street at Clarence Street, a 6 storey hotel block, 1930 (C.R., xliv, 10 Sept. 1930, 62)
FRANK W. NICOLLS (works in Victoria, B.C.)
WILLE DODGE-CHRYSLER BUILDING, Pandora Street, 1948 (D. Luxton & V. Vidners, Capitol Regional District Art Deco & Moderne, 1986)
THE STORK SHOP, Fort Street, a retail store for Arthur Burr, 1948 (Victoria Daily Times, 25 June 1948, 17, illus. & detailed descrip.)
STRATHCONA HOTEL, Douglas Street at Courtney Street, addition of a large 2 storey wing, 1948-50; still standing in 2023 (Victoria Daily Times, 25 Sept. 1948, 1, descrip.; and 7 Jan. 1950, 15, descrip.; Canadian Hotel Review, xxvi, 15 Nov. 1948, 70)
QUADRA STREET, at Burdett Avenue, a 2 storey apartment block with 22 units, located "....across the street from Christ Church Cathedral", 1949 (Victoria Daily Times, 30 Sept. 1949, 1, descrip.)
ST. JOHN'S ANGLICAN CHURCH, a new Parish Hall for the church, Mason Street, near Blanshard Street, 1950-51 (Victoria Daily Times, 5 Oct. 1949, 1, descrip.; D. Luxton & V. Vidners, Capitol Regional District Art Deco & Moderne, 1986)
OAK BAY, residence for Frederick B. McLeod, Surrey Road at Beach Drive, 1950 (R.A.I.C. Journal, xxvii, Dec. 1950, 410, illus.)
SAANICH, B.C., Queenswood Gardens Housing Project, Arbutus Road, Queenswood Drive, and Haro Street, a group of 25 low rise apartment blocks, 1958 (Victoria Daily Times, 4 Nov. 1958, 13, descrip.)
NICOLLS & DI CASTRI (works in Victoria) - with John A. Di Castri
C.N.I.B. BUILDING, Arena Way at Blanshard Street, 1951 (Victoria Daily Times, 14 March 1951, 10, illus.; and 18 Aug. 1951, 2, descrip.; and 4 April 1952, 3, illus. & descrip.; D. Luxton & V. Vidners, Capitol Regional District Art Deco & Moderne, 1986)
MOORE, WHITTINGTON LUMBER CO. LTD., Bridge Street at John Street, large addition to office and timber mill, 1951 (Victoria Daily Times, 3 Feb. 1951, Section Two, p. 15)
McCALL BROTHERS FUNERAL HOME, Vancouver Street, a new Chapel beside existing building, 1951 (Victoria Daily Times, 19 May 1951, 22, descrip.; R.A.I.C. Journal, xxix, June 1952, 168, illus.; and July 1952, 218-19, illus.)
COMPETITIONS
FRANCE & BELGIUM, War Memorial for Unknown Soldiers, 1923. Nicholls was invited by the Imperial War Graves Commission in London to submit a design for a British Memorial at sites located in these two countries (Brantford Expositor, 24 Aug. 1923, 6). He qualified to enter the competition because he served with British Forces during WWI.