User:JPRiley/Stahl

Frederick Arthur "Tad" Stahl was born November 10, 1930, in Danbury, Connecticut. He was educated at Dartmouth College, the Harvard Graduate School of Design and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, graduating from the latter in 1956 with an MArch.^[1] In 1961 he established his own firm, F. A. Stahl & Associates, in Boston. His first major work was the State Street Bank Building (1966) in Boston. He conceived the project in 1962 and was chief designer and promoter of the building, which was executed by a joint venture of three firms.^[2]

Stahl was best known as a designer of modern buildings and additions which complemented historic ones. Several of his Brutalist buildings, especially the Massachusetts General Life Insurance Company Building (1968) on Federal Street, reflected the austere 19th-century Boston Granite style, exemplified by the work of architects such as Charles Bulfinch and Alexander Parris.^[3] He was also well known as a preservation architect.^[4] In 1970 Stahl and partner John P. Bennett formed Stahl/Bennett Inc. with two divisions: Stahl Associates for the practice of architecture, and the Interior Design Group for the practice of interior design.^[5] In 1977 Stahl Associates merged with Perry Dean Partners to form Perry, Dean, Stahl & Rogers. Stahl was president of the new firm with Robert C. Dean as chairman.^[6]

Stahl withdrew in 1982 to reestablish Stahl Associates. From then forward he no longer designed major commercial buildings but focused on civic and preservation projects. Over the years the firm was expanded to include additional principals: Frank C. Adams, Frank G. St. Pierre and Richard C. Smith in 1987,^[7] Philemon Sturges in 1988^[8] and Joel E. Nordberg in 1998.^[9] In 1999 the firm was acquired by Burt Hill Kosar Rittelmann Associates, a firm with an international practice.^[10] Stahl stayed on through that firm's acquisition by Stantec in 2010 until his retirement in the spring of 2013.