SEMEYN, William Jacobus (1890-1952), a gifted Dutch-born architect who lived and worked in Victoria, B.C. from 1912 to 1952. Born in Grouw, The Netherlands on 4 June 1890, he received an education in art and architecture at the Technical School in Amsterdam in 1904-07, then trained in the office of Eduard Cuypers (1859-1927), a nephew of the famous Dutch architect Petrus J.H. Cuypers (1827-1921). The Cuypers office was a training ground for three of the most important members of The Amsterdam School, including Michael de Klerk, Pieter L. Kramer, and J.M. Van der Mey. Semeyn spent 6 years working in this office from 1907 to 1912 where he obtained valuable knowledge and experience about contemporary architectural design and construction techniques.
It is unclear why Semeyn emigrated to Canada in 1912, but he settled in Victoria, B.C. where he worked briefly for Samuel Maclure. Semeyn began his career as an architect in August of that year. In 1921 he was one of five Canadian architects who prepared a design for the important international competition for the Chicago Tribune Tower. However, his name is missing from the full list of 263 competitors who actually submitted entries, as published in 1922, and it is believed that he prepared, but then chose not to submit, his drawings for this significant project. A confirmation of his entry for this competition appears in The Contract Record & Engineering Review (Toronto), xlii, 28 Nov. 1928, p. 1249. He worked independently from 1913 to 1927, then was invited by Karl B. Spurgin to form a partnership in November 1928 (see list of works under Spurgin & Semeyn). Their collaboration was brief, and from 1931 onward Semeyn worked under his own name.
His outstanding project from this period is the striking Art Deco design for the Tweedsmuir Apartments in Victoria (1936; still standing), a remarkably progressive landmark heralding the arrival of the pure moderne style on Vancouver Island. Nearly 10 years later, Semeyn produced another sophisticated contemporary design, this time for the Rainbow Mansions Apartments, Victoria (1947; still standing). Semeyn retired in 1950 and later accidentally drowned at Maple Bay, near Victoria, B.C. on 23 May 1952 (obituary Victoria Daily Times, 26 May 1952, 1; obit. Daily Colonist (Victoria) 27 May 1952, 7; biog. in The Contract Record & Engineering Review (Toronto), xlii, 28 Nov. 1928, p. 1249; biog. and list of works in Donald Luxton, Building The West: Early Architects of British Columbia, 2003, 421; & 517; inf. Architectural Institute of British Columbia). A photographic portrait of Semeyn was published in the Victoria Daily Times, 17 June 1929, p. 15.
SAANICH, B.C., residence for John Brown, Tattersall Drive, 1912-13 (list of works in AIBC Application form, April 1920; D. Luxton, Saanich Heritage Structures, 2008, 113, illus. & descrip.)
GOVERNMENT STREET, alterations to residence for Mrs. Victor Jensen, 1913 (list of works in AIBC Application form, April 1920)
UPLANDS, residence for Robert J. Jameson, 1921 (list of works in AIBC Application form, April 1920)
SAANICH, B.C., residence for John Main, Craigmiller Avenue, 1922 (list of works in AIBC Application form, April 1920)
VICTORIA, B.C., Grace Lutheran Church, addition of a new parsonage, 1922 (Victoria Daily Times, 20 July 1922, 9)
VICTORIA, B.C., retail store for J.C. Carey, View Street, 1922-23 (Victoria Daily Times, 3 Feb. 1923, 9)
VICTORIA, B.C., residence for Herbert F. Crowe, Craigdarroch Road, 1923 (D. Luxton, 517, list of works)
SAANICH, B.C., residence for Herman R. Brown, Hobbs Street, 1927 (D. Luxton, 517, list of works)
VICTORIA, B.C., R.J. Jameson Motors Ltd., Broughton Street, auto showroom and service centre, 1928-29; demol. (Victoria Daily Times, 17 June 1929, 15-18, illus. & detailed descrip.)
VERNON, B.C., a 3 storey hotel, with two wings, each 2 storeys, 1931 (Vernon News, 16 April 1931, 1; Victoria Daily Times, 16 April 1931, 2; C.R., xlv, 29 April 1931, 64)
UPLANDS, residence for H.R. Brown, Cotswold Road near Uplands Road, 1931 (Victoria Daily Times, 3 Oct. 1931, 20, illus. & detailed architectural descrip.)
UPLANDS, residence for Earle Davis, Weald Road, 1932 (Victoria Daily Times, 2 Jan. 1932, 2)
PENTICTON, B.C., a large hotel for the Penticton Community Hotel Co., 1932 (C.R., xlvi, 16 March 1932, 49)
VICTORIA, B.S., dance hall and recreation hall, for the Victoria Amusement Co., Dallas Road near Pilot Street, 1932 (Victoria Daily Times, 30 March 1932 13)
VICTORIA, B.C., The Tweedsmuir Apartments, Park Boulevard at Heywood Street, for C.N. Forrest of Shanghai, China, 1936; still standing in 2023 (Victoria Daily Times, 3 Jan. 1936, 2; and 24 Jan. 1936, 15; Daily Colonist (Victoria), 29 March 1936, 3, illus. & detailed descript.; M. Segger & D. Franklin, Exploring Victoria’s Architecture, 1996, 296; Victoria Heritage Foundation, This Old House: Victoria’s Heritage Neighbourhoods, Vol. 4, 2009, 112-13, illus. & descript.; Tim Morawetz, Art Deco Architecture in Canada, 2017, 138, illus. & descrip.)
VICTORIA, B.C., residence for P.F. Black, Fernwood Road near Grant Street, 1939 (Victoria Daily Times, 5 May 1939, 13)
VICTORIA, B.C., The Rainbow Mansions Apartments, Academy Close at Blanshard Street, 1947-48 (Hallmark Society, Capitol Regional District Art Deco & Moderne, 1986; .; M. Segger & D. Franklin, Exploring Victoria’s Architecture, 1996, 79, illus.)