Lyles, Bissett, Carlisle, and Wolff (LBC&W), an architecture firm based in Columbia, South Carolina, was the region's most prominent firm from 1948 until 1975. While the roots of the firm stretch back to 1938, LBC&W was officially incorporated in 1948 as William G. Lyles, Thomas J. Bissett, William A. Carlisle, and Louis M. Wolff. LBC&W's streamlined operational structure, atypically high employment numbers, and varied portfolio contributed to the success of the firm. The firm had satellite offices in Richmond, Virginia; Washington, D.C.; Spartanburg, South Carolina; Raleigh, North Carolina; and Rockville, Maryland. At its height, over 350 architects, engineers, and other staff members were employed by LBC&W. The firm completed over 7,000 projects in its 30-year span, many of which were on the cutting edge of Modern architecture. From Clemson University's library that reflects the influence of Edward Durell Stone's Embassy at New Delhi to the Bankers Trust Tower in downtown Columbia that mimics the Seagram Building by Mies van der Rohe, LBC&W incorporated the methodologies and designs of the great architects of the twentieth century. LBC&W designed some of South Carolina's – and certainly Columbia's – most prominent commercial and private buildings, contributing greatly to the modern built environment of Columbia today.
History
1938-1948
In 1938, William Lyles and Robert Caughman Stork began the firm Stork & Lyles. Robert Stork suffered a severe cerebral hemorrhage a few years earlier, however, and did not recover enough to carry a full workload alongside Lyles. Bill Stork, the brother of Robert, returned to South Carolina from Washington D.C. where he had been working and continued with the firm Stork and Lyles. Bill Stork and Lyles, who were both graduates of Clemson University's architecture program, were interrupted by World War II. In February 1942, Lyles was transferred to Washington D.C. as a member of the General Staff of the War Department. He attained the rank of captain in April 1942, and by June of that year, Lyles was on his way to Europe as the chief of design for the chief engineer of the European Theater of Operations. He was responsible for the design of camps and hospitals in the European theater for forty-one months. On November 13, 1945, Lyles returned to Columbia and resumed his work with Stork. At this time, the firm was working in a small space above McGregor's Drug Store. Stork and Lyles began working in 1946 with T.J. Bissett, William Carlisle, and Louis Wolff as associates. Around 1948, Stork left the firm, and the firm became officially incorporated as William G. Lyles, Bissett, Carlisle, and Wolff, which was later shortened to Lyles, Bissett, Carlisle, and Wolff.
In 1948, LBC&W designed and began to build a new office complex at 1321 Bull Street to accommodate its continuously growing staff. The architects were relieved to leave the cramped conditions of the rooms above McGregor's Drug Store.
1948-1960
LBC&W's success in later years can be attributed in part to their early connections with the Federal Housing Administration through Bill Stork. The firm's projects during the late '40s and early '50s were primarily residential buildings insured under the FHA's section 608 policy, which was aimed at ensuring housing for veterans. LBC&W was by far the most active firm under the section 608 program in South Carolina. In tangent with this program, LBC&W completed 22 projects insured by the FHA at $16,836,400 by the end of the program in 1950. The closest competition was David Cevil of Spartanburg with a mere six projects insured at $3,492,500. Stork and Lyles completed only one FHA project of which $195,900 was insured by the FHA. Stork is reported to have completed three projects on his own, of which $1,381,500 was FHA insured.
By 1950, the firm had grown to 58 people. During this period, the architects worked to diversify their portfolio after the postwar housing boom began to subside. The architects were successful in their diversification, and by the end of the 1950s, could list many different types of buildings in the company's portfolio such as libraries, science laboratories, office buildings, schools, and military facilities.