William Douglas Lee

William Douglas Lee
William Douglas Lee
Born	1894
Died	1965
Nationality	American
Occupation	Architect
Children	Douglas Everett Lee
Buildings	Chateau Marmont El Royale Catalina Swimwear Building Textile Center Building Garment Capitol Building

William Douglas Lee (1894–1965) was an architect and designer in the early 20th century whose career focused on designing large Neoclassic, Gothic Revival, Renaissance Revival, and Beaux-Arts style manufacturing buildings in downtown Los Angeles, as well as other historically notable works such as the Chateau Marmont and the El Royale apartments.

William Douglas Lee's first major industrial and manufacturing facility design was The Catalina Swimwear Building (now The Catalina) located at 443 South San Pedro Street in Los Angeles. The Catalina Swimwear Building was constructed in 1923, less than two years after Lee began his independent practice, and was the headquarters for Catalina Swimwear. The building is of reinforced concrete construction, with a traditional Neoclassic façade sheathed in brick. Its construction is documented by City of Los Angeles Building Permit #38140, issued for a six-story building with a concrete frame on the southwest corner of San Pedro and Winston Streets.

Lee gained during the 1920s when his idea to transform the city's aesthetic with real estate developer Florence Casler took hold. Together Lee and Casler erected what Florence termed a "utopian commercial area" centered on Pico Boulevard and Maple Avenue. Between 1924 and 1929 they erected many major specialized industrial buildings including the Textile Center Building, the Allied Crafts Building, the Bendix Building, the Printing Center, the Graphic Arts Building, the Garment Capitol Building, the Elias-Katz Shoe Factory (now: Downtown Women's Center) the Furniture Exchange Building, and the Merchants Exchange Building.