As a B-17 pilot Bob Des Lauriers flew missions over Germany during WWII. He graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1949 with a BS in Architectural Engineering. Arriving in San Diego Bob worked with Frederick Liebhardt and Jim Bird for Alfred George Mueller as well as Paderewski, Mitchell & Dean. In 1958 he left Paderewski to launch his own firm from his home office.
Bob Des Lauriers was born in Waukegan, Illinois (on February 29, 1924), and raised in Los Angeles. He graduated from Huntington Park High in 1941. Following his graduation the family moved to the north shore of Oahu (11 miles from Pearl Harbor) where he worked for Hawaiian Construction as a carpenter on military projects. They arrived just two months prior to the Japanese attack.
Nine months later Bob returned to Los Angeles to join the Army Air Corps. While waiting to be accepted he worked for Western Pipe & Steel Ship Building Co. as a designer-draftsman on pressure tanks and liberty ships. In February 1942 he was inducted into the Army and began flight training. Graduating as a 2nd Lt. in 1944, B-17 pilot Des Lauriers spent 6 months flying 33 missions from his base in the UK over Germany. On VJ Day, following an Honorable Discharge he married Shirley Marie McHenry in Sioux City, Iowa (where they had met during his military training months earlier).
After relocating to Denver, Bob worked for Stearns Rogers Engineering. In 1946 the young couple returned to Sioux City where Bob entered Morningside College under the GI Bill. During this time he continued to fly for the Army Air Force Reserves. While at Morningside, an aptitude test rated Bob as '90% Architecture' so he changed his major and transferred to the University of Colorado at Boulder. From this campus, in 1949, he graduated with a BS in Architectural Engineering.
Bob and Shirley had settled in La Mesa, building their own home on Calavo Drive. At this time Mr. Des Lauriers worked alongside Frederick Liebhardt and Jim Bird for a local designer Alfred George Mueller. Here they designed a large number of tract homes in Point Loma for developers like Jackson Scott.
His year and a half with Mueller proved invaluable in design, mass production and speed drafting. In 1952, H. Louis Bodmer (formerly of Bodmer Wurdman & Beckett Architects) hired Bob to support the firm in designing banks, commercial buildings and the original San Diego Airport Terminal Building on Pacific Coast Highway.
In 1957, Bob secured his State of California Architecture License and began working for Paderewski, Mitchell & Dean. Among his assigned projects was the El Cortez Travelator Building located across 7th Street from the hotel and connected by a bridge and the first moving sidewalk and three hydraulic glass elevators.
In 1958, Bob left Paderewski to launch his own firm from his home office. From his poolside deck and drafting table he completed his first project - St. Lukes Lutheran of La Mesa. In 1959, his 20th project was a hyperbolic paraboloid church - Carlton Hills Lutheran in Santee. Earning his first AIA Award of Merit, this project would garner much-deserved accolades and work from the religious community for years to come.
In 1961 John Sigurdson joined as a partner to form Des Lauriers Sigurdson AIA Architects. John remained through 1967 when he split off to launch his own office. According to Bob, "During this 6-year period of Des Lauriers Sigurdson, the architectural practice intensified and developed projects with even more fervor and dedication to make contemporary architecture a lasting scheme of creating, serving and preserving the way of life of "the Transition Period".
Following Sigurdson's departure, Robert E. Des Lauriers & Associates AIA completed 67 religious projects, over 150 residential, 187 Navy, 18 public school projects, and extensive commercial and planning projects. 506 projects in all.
Reflecting on his career, Des Lauriers saw his contribution as "innovative architecture with traditional roots."
Abi Bakr Al Siddiq Mosque (1986)
7050 Eckstrom Avenue
Adler Residence (1969)
9 Cresta Way, Chula Vista
Ascension Evangelical Lutheran Church (1960)
5106 Zion Avenue, San Diego
Assembly of God
Mission Valley
Atlas Electric
Grantville
Bacheller, Cmdr. & Hester Residence (1968)
4110 Calavo Drive, La Mesa
Bone, Dr. Robert & Patricia Residence (1972)
460 Culebra Street, Del Mar
Borrego Springs Community United Methodist Church
633 Diamond Bar Road, Borrego Springs
Bush, Mr. & Mrs. J. Residence (1960)
4554 Cresta Verde Lane, Bonita
*Attribution
Butts, David Residence (1972)
Lakeside
Byrum, George Residence (1959)
5460 Toyon Road, Alvarado Estates
Calvary Southern Baptist Church (1963)
6866 Linda Vista Road
Calvary Lutheran (1961)
3060 54th Street, San Diego
Carlsbad Garden Apartments (1960)
(later to become Carlsbad By The Sea)
Carlton Hills Lutheran Church (1960)
9735 Halburns Boulevard, Santee
Award of Merit, AIA San Diego 1960
Carmichael Residence (1972)
2564 Via Dieguenos, Alpine
*Attribution
Christenson, Dr. Robert Residence (1961)
Mt. Helix
Clairemont Lutheran Church (1966)
4271 Clairemont Mesa Boulevard
Colina Medical/Dental Center (1965)
4260 54th Street, San Diego
Community Church (1986)
Poway
Community Methodist Church
Borrego Springs
Croome, Dr. Clifford Orthodontic Clinic (1968)
Magnolia Avenue, El Cajon
Cunningham, Allan Residence
Pine Valley
Dailard Elementary
6425 Cibola Road, San Diego
Davis, John Residence (1966)
9565 Alto Drive, Mt Helix
Davis, Lester Robert Residence (1968)
1934 Zapo Street
Des Lauriers, Robert Residence (1957)
4052 Calavo Drive
First Assembly of God Church (1971)
8404 Phyllis Place, San Diego
First Lutheran Church
867 S. Lincoln, El Cajon
First Lutheran Church (1962)
1410 Foothill Drive, Vista
First Presbyterian Church (1963)
940 Hilltop Drive, Chula Vista
*By Des Lauriers Sigurdson AIA Architects
Fletcher Hills Presbyterian Church (1968)
455 Church Way, El Cajon
Fred H. Rohr Elementary School (1966)
1540 Malta Avenue, Chula Vista
Heald, Dan Residence (1964)
6828 Elaine Way, Del Cerro
Home of Guiding Hands (1966)
10055 Las Ranchito, Lakeside
Hope United Methodist Church (1978)
16550 Bernardo Heights Parkway
Horizon Home Competition Residence for American Housing Guild (1961)
5708 Abernathy Way
Portland Cement Association selected the firm - American Housing Guild hired the office to build one spec house of concrete within the development.
Hubbard, Ronald & Emily Residence (1974)
2169 Belloc Court
Jean Farb Middle School (1976)
4880 La Cuenta Drive, San Diego
Kappa Alpha Theta Sorority (1965)
5720 Montezuma Road
La Mesa Chamber of Commerce Building
8155 University Avenue, La Mesa
La Mesa Development Plan
Plan for downtown La Mesa after Grossmont Center was built all the merchants left downtown. Bob secured state and federal grants to create a canopy for 5 blocks of downtown. La Mesa never built the project.
La Mesa Police Facility (1966)
8181 Allison Avenue, La Mesa
La Presa Junior High (1966)
1001 Leland Street, Spring Valley
Loma Elementary School (1976)
10355 Loma Lane, Spring Valley
McHenry, Edna Residence (1950)
4058 Calavo Drive
Mt. Miguel Covenant Church (1961)
Myron B. Green & Dailard Elementary Schools (1975)
7030 Wandermere Drive, San Diego
National City School District (1977 - 1979)
Master plans for all schools in District (and additions)
New Sanctuary Calvary Lutheran (1963)
54th & Redwood
Northminster Presbyterian Church (1965)
4324 Clairemont Mesa Boulevard
Our Savior Lutheran Church
200 Avenida San Pablo, San Clemente
Ozzie's Music Store
6875 El Cajon Blvd
Prim, Donald Residence
Rancho Santa Fe
Private Residence (1968)
Del Mar
Robert Des Lauriers, AIA Architects (1967)
9300 Block of Fuerte Drive, La Mesa
Shepherd of The Valley
10842 Fury Lane, La Mesa
Silverman, Milton Residence (1969)
La Mesa
Spring Valley Fire Station (1961)
Spring Valley
St. Luke’s Lutheran Church (1961 - 1987)
5150 Wilson Avenue, La Mesa
St. Mark's Lutheran Church (1966)
580 Hilltop Drive, Chula Vista
Theta Chi Fraternity House (1960)
5702 Hardy Way, College Area
Top Shelf Restaurant (1967)
9350 Fuerte Drive, La Mesa
US Navy Dental Clinic (1973)
Basilone Road, Camp Pendleton
US Navy Medical Clinic
San Nicolas Island
Valle Lindo Elementary School (1967)
1515 Oleander Avenue, Chula Vista
Wissell, Ozzie Residence (1959)
9520 El Granito, Mt Helix
Zvaifler, Nate and Debie Residence (1972)
2684 Costebelle Drive, La Jolla
Sign up for our newsletter and get exclusive content from Modern San Diego.
