William Lyon Somerville

William Lyon Somerville (August 5, 1886 – April 14, 1965) was a Canadian architect practicing in Toronto, Ontario and Southern Ontario, Canada. He was president of the Ontario Association of Architects, and president of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada. He was an accomplished architect who designed hospitals, commercial and institutional buildings, residential buildings. Somerville designed the original McMaster University buildings in Hamilton, Ontario, and the Rainbow Tower complex in Niagara Falls. He was educated in Hamilton and New York, New York. He first practiced architecture in the United States before World War I. He returned to Ontario to practice in 1919. Somerville preferred to collaborate with Canadian artists and was a member of the "Diet Kitchen Group", an informal group that were interested in fostering the connections between the decorative arts and architecture. In 1927, Somerville made a speech urging the close collaboration of fine artists and architects. "Architecture is the mother of the arts and it is her main object to make known art." In the same speech, Somerville supported more recognition of Canadian artists.

The Somerville-designed Cawthra-Elliott residence in Mississauga, Ontario, is notable and designated a historic place. Somerville designed it in a Georgian Revivalist style, according to his philosophy that "a perfect Canadian home must descend directly from the cottages of England." Somerville was also involved in national housing issues. During the 1930s, Somerville participated in efforts to simplify housing design so as to build more low-cost housing. During World War II, Somerville was involved in the effort to provide housing around munitions and other war production efforts.

Somerville's work in hospitals includes the Ontario Hospital in St Thomas, Ontario, St Joseph's Hospital in Brantford, Ontario and Pembroke General Hospital in Pembroke, Ontario as well as consulting on University Hospital in Edmonton, Alberta, and additions to St Michael's Hospital in Toronto, Ontario, the Red Cross Crippled Children's Hospital in Calgary, Alberta and St Joseph's Hospital in Hamilton. In 1959, McMaster gave him an honorary doctorate of laws.