This month, we’re both celebrating 25 remarkable years with Director Mark Craswell and farewelling him as he retires from Stewart Architecture.

Mark joined Stewart Architecture as a graduate in 2001, a team of six people in a little office above the Old Bus Depot in Kingston. An analytical and technical thinker, Mark’s main strength was quickly apparent: translating design concepts into the built form, into physical places that can be occupied, lived in, and loved.

Over the past two and a half decades, Mark’s leadership, generosity and commitment to thoughtful, enduring architecture have left a lasting mark on our studio, our projects and the many people who have had the pleasure of working alongside him.

Mark has played an enormous role in shaping our practice and delivery of projects. Perhaps his greatest studio legacy has been mentoring the now-senior team, then students and graduates, in design documentation and calmly guiding them through the project construction phase.

“Some of my best memories have been seeing people make these places their own. For instance, at the opening of Hotel Realm in Barton, James Morrison played his trumpet in the atrium for hundreds of people who came to have a drink and party. Another time, at the opening of the Green Square Library in Zetland, I watched a man drinking his coffee, wedged between the balustrade and the handrail, reading a book with his shoes kicked off. In both moments, I remember feeling happy that people felt so comfortable and such ownership.”

From our modest beginnings, Mark leaves our practice with studios in two states and a team of 46 people. While we will greatly miss his presence in the office and around project tables, we are excited for him and his new work-free life of travel and relaxation, and we’re told, some very serious professional whisky tasting.

Thanks for everything, Mark. We’ll see you at the next shindig.