Dan Stark
Designer & Project Manager
Born and raised in the mighty state of Rhode Island, Santa Cruz has been on Dan’s short-list of places to live after a memorable day trip to see the redwoods and the waves with college friends. Fifteen years later, he jumped at the chance to settle and raise his family here.
With a keen eye for material choices and a natural love of learning, Dan brings his extensive career experience in commercial and institutional architecture to Workbench. In the off hours, he’s likely to be outdoors: camping, fishing, cycling, or working on growing his legendary tomato plants.
On choosing a career in Architecture
I originally got into architecture because of my interest in art; architecture is a broad, creative field. I have always liked the fact that there is so much opportunity to do different things in architecture; you can be an artist, a technician, a psychologist and so many other things and we all have to do a little bit of all that and more. I have always felt like architecture has room for lots of different folks and it even has room for my changing interests as I grow.
Why I love Santa Cruz
I love living between the mountains and the ocean with so much opportunity to be outside in such a beautiful place. Workbench has really rounded out my Santa Cruz life as it has given me the chance to work where I live with an awesome community of coworkers and friends.
Outside of Workbench
These days I spend most of my time with my wife and son. As long as I can remember I’ve mostly wanted to spend my time outdoors playing in nature’s glory. Weekends find us on the beach, hiking in the woods or taking a family bike ride in town. Or, we might pack up and head down to Big Sur or up to Mendocino for some camping.
Education
Bachelor of Architecture, University of Oregon
