Thank you for visiting my website.  Having grown up in South Carolina,  I attended Clemson University where I received a B.S. degree in Architecture.    At Clemson, I was introduced to the work of Frank Lloyd Wright and other organic architects and it was the work of these individuals, who were searching for an authentic American way of designing and building, which instilled my love for architecture.  Working as a carpenter for a residential contractor, to finance my education, provided me with an appreciation for the process of construction and its relation to design and proved to be a seminal event in my development as an architect. 

Seeking a new experience and environment, I moved to Houston, Texas,  apprenticing with MacKie and Kamrath, Architects, an old Houston firm whose design principal was inspired by, as well as an acquaintance of, Frank Lloyd Wright.   After a time there, I relocated to Charlotte to attend the University of North Carolina at Charlotte for my Bachelor of Architecture degree.  Upon completing my appenticeship, I established my firm – W. Stanley Russell, Architect – in 1982, in Charlotte.  Believing that practice and academia are symbiotic, I have remained involved with students over the years through teaching and serving as a critic and advisor at Clemson's and UNCC's Schools of Architecture.

My practice is, by design, both small and general in nature.  The size allows me to give  individual attention to each project I undertake while the general nature of my practice has allowed me to address a variety of architectural and planning projects.  Such diversity makes me a better architect by allowing me to approach each problem with an open mind, rather than with the preconceptions that specialization often brings.

Toward the goal of creating meaningful architecture, I offer my clients a willingness to listen to their needs;  collaborate in a search for appropriate and creative solutions; and pursue the imaginative process of design and the constructive act of building.