Stevens & Wilkinson, a full-service commercial architecture, engineering and interior design firm based in Atlanta and Columbia, S.C., announced Clay Stafford has joined its staff as principal, director of planning. He joined Stevens & Wilkinson following key positions with Health Education + Research Associates and other firms during more than a two-decade tenure of experience.

Stafford’s scope of responsibility with Stevens & Wilkinson includes serving as key facility strategist, programmer and planner; contributing to business development and marketing strategy development; and participating in firm and project management.

With nearly 25 years of experience in planning and developing more than 20 million square feet of facilities around the world, Stafford has led and executed a wide range of design, expansion, modernization, master planning, and building projects. His experience spans facilities research, planning and programming in the sectors of corporate, commercial, academic, medical academic, healthcare / clinical, forensics, aviation, and government. Stafford also has unique concentrations in science, technology and aviation facilities planning.

Stafford recognizes that large-scale, complex projects require unique perspective, knowledge and process to ensure the envisioned result can be achieved even with the presence of certain restrictions. He is a specialist in the Problem Seeking methodology and works closely with project stakeholders and user groups to establish multidimensional project goals; evaluate areas of need and key requirements; define or create the fundamental groundwork for projects; and accomplish intrinsic project and programming objectives.

Authored content by Stafford has published in Forensic Magazine and R+D Magazine Handbook. He has been a featured or keynote speaker at various universities, conventions and conferences, and received a Bachelor of Science in Landscape Architecture from the University of Georgia in 1990.

Stafford is a Georgia American Society of Landscape Architecture (ASLA) Merit Award Winner for Regional Assessment and Analysis, Chattahoochee River Corridor Enhancement Project, the City of Atlanta and the Path Foundation, Atlanta, 1994, and Georgia ASLA Honor Award Winner - AUC/West Side Pedestrian Corridor System Development, Atlanta University Center, Atlanta, 1996.

About Stevens & Wilkinson: Founded in 1919, Stevens & Wilkinson is a full-service architecture, engineering and interior design firm committed to providing clients with “Smart Design Solutions.” The firm’s combined design capabilities equate to projects executed with creative, innovative and holistic design solutions. To learn more: www.stevens-wilkinson.com.