Basic Biographical Details

Name: Thomas David Stark
Designation:  
Born:  
Died:  
Bio Notes: Thomas David Stark (known as David) was born in Rutherglen and grew up in East Kilbride, attending a two-room Victorian primary school there. The family later moved to Clarkston. By the time he had completed his schooling at the age of 16, he had resolved to become an architect. He chose to learn his trade through practical experience rather than studying at a university. He was, and remains, of the opinion that ‘full-time architectural education has de-skilled architecture’, and cites Raymond Young as an inspiration in developing ways of bringing professional training into the modern era.

He went to London, where he lived in a basement flat in Pimlico and worked for a series of mainly small firms. Particularly memorable was the time spent working on the Museum of London, indicating that he was employed in the practice of Powell & Moya. Having considered taking a job in Nigeria, he eventually opted to return to Glasgow, where he worked as a junior partner for a small commercial practice (seemingly Harvey, Scott & Partners). He recalls that in his youth ‘everything in Britain was black and white’ and that even by the 1970s Glasgow ‘was still black, still declining – it hadn’t woken up yet’. When he saw an advertisement for a position in the Cumbernauld New Town Development Corporation, he took up the opportunity to work on the ground-breaking developments there, at a time when the Town Centre and Abronhill were in progress.

David Stark joined the practice of Scott Brownrigg and Turner in 1984 as a senior architect. Following the merger of Scott Brownrigg and Turner and Keppie Henderson in 1989, the limited Company of SBT Keppie, owned by the partnership of Scott Brownrigg and Turner was formed. David Stark became a senior associate director of the new firm of SBT Keppie in June 1990. In 1991, Stark became a director of SBT Keppie, and in 1993, he became Managing Director. In 1995, four Scottish Directors of SBT Keppie, Peter N Scott, David R. Collin, T. David Stark and Peter Sassoon carried out a management buy-out of SBT Keppie from the Scott Brownrigg and Turner Partnership and established the new firm of Keppie Design Ltd.

Stark became involved in the Government’s Private Finance Initiative (PFI – later Public Private Partnership (PPP)), launched in 1992. It was largely as a result of this that, between 1993 and 2008 when he was Managing Director of Keppie Design, the firm grew from 40 to 300 staff and from two to six UK bases. He participates in international conferences and acts as a public-sector advisor. He published his book, ‘Charles Rennie Mackintosh & Co. 1854-2004’, in 2004.

Employment and Training

Employers

The following individuals or organisations employed or trained this (click on an item to view details):
 NameDate fromDate toPositionNotes
Item 1 of 5Keppie Architects (later Keppie Design)  Partner 
Item 2 of 5Harvey Scott & PartnersLate 1960s(?)Late 1960s(?)Junior Partner 
Item 3 of 5Powell & MoyaMid 1960s(?)Late 1960s(?)Assistant(?) 
Item 4 of 5Cumbernauld New Town Development CorporationEarly 1970s   
Item 5 of 5Scott, Brownrigg & Turner1984 Architect 

Buildings and Designs

This was involved with the following buildings or structures from the date specified (click on an item to view details):
 Date startedBuilding nameTown, district or villageIslandCity or countyCountryNotes
Item 1 of 1Late 1960s(?)Museum of London  LondonEnglandAs an employee of Powell & Moya

References

Bibliographic References

The following books contain references to this :
 Author(s)DateTitlePartPublisherNotes
Item 1 of 1www.keppiedesign.co.uk www.keppiedesign.co.uk  Accessed 7 February 2012