Prominent architecture group changes ownership

SARASOTA — Mike Bryant, the owner of Lakewood Ranch-based Fawley Bryant Architecture, has retired and sold the firm through a management buyout.

A press release says Steve Padgett and Stu Henderson purchased the firm in December 2017, which was part of the the vision set out by Rick Fawley and Bryant several years ago. Fawley died in 2015.

In 2013, Fawley and Bryant created a firm management team to prepare for the “long-term growth and sustainability” of the company, the release states. Padgett and Henderson have been members of the management team since then.

Padgett previously served as executive vice president. He will now be a firm principal and the managing partner. Henderson will continue his role as director of design and will also be a principal.

“I have the utmost confidence in Steve and Stu,” says Bryant in a statement. “They have essentially been running the firm for the last year. That was done strategically so they could learn on the job and I could support them when necessary.”

The firm was established in 1994. It employs 20 full-time employees.

“We have to continue nurturing the fundamental building blocks that got us to this point; great work, a strong community emphasis and smart people,” Padgett says in a statement. “Even though clients will see new faces, we're still a legacy firm with a history that will help direct our future.”