William J. Bain

Who was William J. Bain?

William J. Bain was an American architect and a founder of the architecture firm, Naramore, Bain, Brady and Johanson, the predecessor to today's NBBJ.

Bain was born in New Westminster, British Columbia. His family moved to Seattle while he was still young. Bain expressed an interest in architecture, and his father, a contractor, helped him get a job with Seattle architect Walter R. B. Willcox, from whom he learned the rudiments of drafting and developed beginning skills in architecture. Bain served in France during World War I, and after the war enrolled in the architecture program at the University of Pennsylvania, from which he graduated in 1921.

After several years in various apprentice positions, Bain opened his own architecture firm in 1924. He quickly developed a reputation for high-quality residential design. In 1928, he took Penn classmate Lionel Pries into partnership forming Bain & Pries. The firm prospered until 1931, then dissolved under the impact of the Depression. Bain's independent practice gradually recovered and by the late 1930s his firm was receiving a variety of commissions and the designs gradually became more modern.