Lars Israel Wahlman studied architecture at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm from 1889 to 1893. As an architect, one of Wahlman’s first works was the Tjolöholm castle outside of Gothenburg, made in a Tudor style from 1894-97. In 1904, Wahlman designed his own villa in Stocksund in Stockholm, followed y the Engelbrekt church from 1906-14 in the same city.
Wahlman's style was influenced by the British Arts and Crafts movement, which propagated for informal, folklore-inspired living ideals with irregular floor plans and wall-mounted fittings in bright colors. Wahlman also designed rustic furniture for his own building projects as well as Jugend style furniture for the Grand Hôtel in Stockholm (1902) and the Baltic Exhibition in Malmö 1914.
In 1912, Wahlman was appointed professor in architecture at the Royal Institute of Technology, a position he held until 1935, during the 1920s and 30s. Wahlman mainly worked on churches and landscapes. He passed away at the age of 82 in 1952. Lars Israel Wahlman is represented as a furniture designer at a.o. the Swedish National Museum of Fine Arts and the Museum of Furniture Studies in Stockholm.
