William Lyon Somerville
William Lyon Somerville (August 5, 1886 – April 14, 1965) was a Canadian architect based in Toronto and southern Ontario. He led major professional groups, serving as president of the Ontario Association of Architects and as president of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC).
Somerville designed hospitals, schools, offices, and homes. His notable works include the original McMaster University buildings in Hamilton (Convocation Hall, University Hall, Hamilton Hall, Wallingford Hall, Refectory) and the Mills Memorial Library, now the McMaster Museum of Art. He created the Rainbow Tower complex in Niagara Falls, and designed several Niagara Falls monuments, such as the Clifton Gate Pioneer Memorial Arch and the Henley Bridge and related Queen Elizabeth Way monuments.
Born in Hamilton, Somerville was educated there and in New York. He practiced architecture in the United States before World War I and returned to Ontario in 1919. He helped design McMaster University’s campus through the firm J. Francis Brown & Son. Early on, he worked in the Collegiate Gothic style, though his later Mills Memorial Library was built in a more contemporary design.
Somerville often collaborated with other artists. He worked with Canadian sculptors on Niagara Falls projects and was part of the “Diet Kitchen Group,” which promoted closer links between architecture and the decorative arts. In 1927 he spoke about the importance of artists and architects working together.
The Cawthra-Elliott residence in Mississauga, designed in Georgian Revival style, is a noted example of his work. He also cared about housing, helping to simplify designs in the 1930s to make low-cost housing, and he contributed to wartime housing during World War II.
His hospital work included Ontario Hospital (St. Thomas), St Joseph’s Hospital (Brantford), Pembroke General Hospital (Pembroke), and consultations for University Hospital (Edmonton) and additions to St Michael’s Hospital (Toronto), the Red Cross Crippled Children’s Hospital (Calgary), and St Joseph’s Hospital (Hamilton).
Somerville held several honors: he was a Academician of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects, a Fellow and president of the RAIC (1936–1938), and president of the OAA (1927–1928). He also wrote for Canadian Homes and Gardens.
The University of Calgary honors Somerville with the William Lyon Somerville Visiting Lectureship in its Architecture program. McMaster University awarded him an honorary Doctor of Laws in 1959.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 06:13 (CET).