August Nordin was born in in 1869 in Stockholm, Sweden. He immigrated to the United States in 1891. By 1908, he had set up practice in the Mills Building where he remained until his death in 1936. During his career, he designed more than three hundred buildings, including fraternal halls, churches, apartment houses, multi-family dwellings and private residences.

Nordin worked directly with the owners of the buildings he designed rather than for developers. He designed buildings in most of the architectural styles that were popular in the first half of the 20th century: Classical Revival, Queen Anne, Art Nouveau, Spanish Colonial Revival and Craftsman.

Source: San Francisco Landmark Designation Report for New Era Hall