SEMMENS, Harold Nelson (1914-1965), nephew of John N. Semmens, was born in Saskatoon on 13 April 1914 and educated at the School of Architecture at the University of Manitoba where he graduated in 1936. He worked in the office of his uncle in Winnipeg in 1936-37, with Moody & Moore (1937-38) and with Northwood & Chivers (1938-39). He moved to Vancouver in 1945 and formed a productive and successful partnership in 1949 with Douglas C. Simpson. Their office can be credited with several key modernist works, including the Marwell Building (1949-50) which received the only Gold Medal awarded by Vincent Massey in the 1952 Massey Medals for Architecture, as well as the B.C. Sugar Refinery complex in Vancouver (1953) awarded a Silver Medal in the 1955 Massey Medal competition. Their best known work was the Vancouver Public Library (1956-57; altered 1995), a project completed amidst the turmoil of the dissolution of their partnership in early 1956. After their office closed, Semmens continued to practise alone until 1962 when he moved his family to Montreal and he joined the architectural division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. He also worked as chief architect at Canadian Industries Ltd. but died suddenly from a heart attack at Lachine, Que. on 27 June 1965 (obituaries in Province [Vancouver], 15 July 1965, 23; obit. Sun [Vancouver], 14 July 1965, 13; obit. Journal of Commerce, 10 July 1965, 2; obit. R.A.I.C. Journal, xlii, Aug. 1965, 8). A biography and photographic portrait of Semmens was published in the City of Vancouver document called A Competition for a Civic Auditorium for Vancouver: Report of the Board of Assessors, 1954, with plans and perspective drawings (with 3 pages illustrating the Semmens & Simpson entry, unpaginated)
SEMMENS & SIMPSON (works in Vancouver unless noted)
KITSILANO WAR MEMORIAL COMMUNITY CENTRE, West 12th Avenue at Larch Street, 1949-50 (Province [Vancouver], 5 Aug. 1949, 10, illus.; Vancouver News-Herald, 23 May 1950, 2, descrip.; R.A.I.C. Journal, xxix, Jan. 1952, 12-13, illus.)
MARWELL BUILDING, West Georgia Street, 1949-50 (R.A.I.C. Journal, xxx, Jan. 1953, 9-11, illus.; Sun [Vancouver], 3 May 1974, 5; dwgs. at Vancouver City Archives)
WESTERN CRESCENT, residence for Frank G. Mitchell, 1949 (C.H.G., xxvii, Dec. 1950, 333-35, illus.; J. Bond, University Endowment Lands Architecture 1940-1969, 1993, 30, illus. & descrip.)
POINT GREY, pair of houses for Harold N. Semmens and Douglas Simpson, architects, Queensland Road, 1949 (C.H.G., xxviii, Sept. 1951, 25-7, illus.; H. Kalman, Exploring Vancouver, 1993, 191, illus.; J. Bond, University Endowment Lands Architecture 1940-1969, 1993, 22, illus. & descrip.)
MEDICAL CLINIC, Seymour Street at West Georgia Street, 1950 (C.R., lxiii, March 1950, 140)
HYGRADE RADIO LTD., Richards Street near Nelson Street, 1950 (dwgs. at Vancouver City Archives)
(with W.K. Noppe) HYCROFT APARTMENTS, Marpole Avenue at West 15th Avenue, a 9 storey apartment block, 1950 (Financial Post [Toronto], 10 June 1950, 4; R.A.I.C. Journal, xxx, April 1953, 92-5, illus.; dwgs. at Vancouver City Archives)
STREET RAILWAYMEN'S CO-OP SOCIETY, East 8th Avenue near Scotia Street, 1949-50 (Vancouver News-Herald, 9 Sept. 1949, 9; dwgs. at Vancouver City Archives)
VICTORIA, B.C., The Alexander Apartments, Crescent Road at Foul Bay Road, 1949-50 (Victoria Daily Times, 24 Oct. 1949, 15)
PORT ALBERNI, B.C., Famous Players movie theatre, Third Avenue near Mar Street, 1949-50 (Vancouver News-Herald, 30 Dec. 1949, 13)
ARLYDENE APARTMENTS, West 12th Avenue Avenue at Fir Street, for William B.A. Botham, 1950 (R.A.I.C. Journal, xxvii, Sept. 1950, 312, illus.)
MARINE CRESCENT, near West 49th Avenue, residence for William B.A. Botham, 1950 (R.A.I.C. Journal, xxvii, Sept. 1950, 306-07, illus.)
COLLINGWOOD BRANCH PUBLIC LIBRARY, The Kingsway at Rupert Street, 1950 (R.A.I.C. Journal, xxix, Aug. 1952, 244, illus.; H. Kalman, Exploring Vancouver, 1993, 200, illus.)
ST. ANSELM"S ANGLICAN CHURCH, University Boulevard near Crooked Bar Road, 1952; still standing in 2023 (J. Bond, University Endowment Lands Architecture 1940-1969, 1993, 32, illus. & descrip.)
COMPETITIONS
VANCOUVER, B.C., Civic Auditorium, 1954-55. The Vancouver firm of Semmens & Simpson were one of 67 architects who submitted a design in this national competition. Their entry, marked No. 135, received an Honorable Mention and a cash prize of $200, and was published in the City of Vancouver document called A Competition for a Civic Auditorium for Vancouver: Report of the Board of Assessors, 1954. The winner was the Montreal firm of Lebensold, Desbarats, Affleck, Michaud & Sise.