Sad news to pass along today as multiple outlets are reporting the death of Valerio Dewalt Train founding principal Mark Dewalt at the age of 70.

Dewalt was an influential name in Chicago architectural circles and, as an architect, was responsible for innovative designs such as the all-plastic testing facility for Underwriters Laboratories in Northbrook, Illinois.

Known for his reputation as a quick-thinking “problem solver,” Dewalt is being remembered for his abilities working under impromptu or rushed circumstances. Throughout his career, he frequently turned around designs for clients like the Vornado Realty Trust and NBC News in abbreviated timelines using a rather impressive grasp of foundational design and architectural solutions.

Dewalt was born in Pittsburgh in 1952 and spent the remainder of his life in the Chicagoland area after studying architecture at UIC. He founded a precursor to VDT in 1984 called Jack Train Associates before merging with Joseph Valerio ten years later, completing many projects throughout the city while he served on the UIC Architecture’s alumni board and the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Restoration Committee of Oak Park, Illinois, where he made his home.

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“He was the nicest guy in the room,” his colleague David Rasche remembered in the Chicago Sun-Times. “He was definitely a builder of teams. Whatever the problem was, he would find a way to get the parties together and fix it. He was always mentoring people. He really brought along a lot of people in this firm, including me.”

Dewalt is survived by his wife Gail and two daughters.