Martin Design

February 1, 2010 - Martin Design Acquires Gardner Architecture

As of January 1, 2010, Martin Design purchased Gardner Architecure of Strawberry Point, Iowa. Gardner Architecure was founded 27 years ago by Tom Gardner. Tom and Dave Martin worked together in Waterloo 30 years ago as interns. They stayed in touch all of those years. Tom was one of the architects Dave would call and talk to about "architecture stuff". They were both sole practitioners and occasionally needed a source of good advice. Tom was always a good friend who listened, tried to help, and if all else failed was at least willing to commiserate with Dave. Naturally they would also see each other at conferences and conventions. After a very serious illness and an apparent recovery, he became ill again and passed away last October. In November, the employees of Gardner Architecture decided to seek a merger with another firm. Martin Design was selected and the purchase was recently finalized.

We will maintain the Strawberry Point office with the current staff. Mike Tucker, Brian Stark, and Mark Moine will continue to work from that office. Mike and Brian worked for Tom for about 12 years and Mark worked for Tom for about 15 years. A photo of the Strawberry Point office can be seen above.

The office is just north of Backbone State Park and just south of Strawberry Point on an old farmstead. The office is located in a renovated barn. It is a very beautiful and peaceful place to work. We invite all of you to come visit us. From County Highway W68 take 390th Street until you see an address sign with the Gardner Architecture name on the mailbox on the south side of the road. Do not let the fact that you cannot see any buildings from the road worry you. The house and office are about a half mile off the road.

Tom's family has allowed us to continue to use the Gardner Architecture name for a year or two. The phone, fax, and email addresses also will not change.

So what does this mean for our clients and friends? We believe this change will only make things better. With the expansion of staff, we think you will find that we will be able to provide more staff with more diverse talents. We have already learned important lessons from each other because of the diversity of the two practices and that we have much in common. This increased knowledge should help us to respond better to your building needs.

In the coming weeks we will be linking their project information into our website so you can see what their work looks like.