Built to Last: Joe Stewart’s 40-Year Blueprint at KPFF

Written by Julia Orue

For Joe Stewart, it all starts with a cocktail napkin and a pen.

“Joe, I got a question,” says Gary, his longtime collaborator and architect. “You know, I’m in design for this project. What do you think about this?”

Joe Stewart, structural engineer, and Gary are sitting at the Marriott hotel bar in Orlando, Florida. The beer is cold, the conversation flowing, and the napkins? Covered in rough sketches of beams and structural details only architects and engineers could understand. To the bartender, they’re just two guys geeking out over hotel renovations. But to Joe, this is the kind of moment that captures everything he loves about engineering: “the creativity, the ability to sit and figure out problems and help a client create their vision, not always easy but challenging.”

Joe didn’t always know he was going to become an engineer. Growing up as the oldest of five children in the “sleepy little beach town of Manhattan Beach,” his early life revolved around ocean activities, team sports, and putting things together.

He found his spark in his high school’s industrial arts classes, where hands-on projects and mechanical drawing piqued his interest in design. He started college at Cal State Long Beach, exploring architecture and taking drafting and architectural practice classes. That path eventually led him to transfer to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, where he found the perfect fit in architectural engineering, a blend of technical skill and problem-solving that aligned with his interest.

The journey wasn’t without its bumps. One summer, after a cement strike canceled his usual construction job, Joe went door to door looking for work. “I walked into this little one-man engineering office,” he remembers. “The guy told me he didn’t have anything. I turned to leave, and as I got to my car, he called out, ‘Can you come back tomorrow?” Joe did, and became his first employee.

That unexpected opportunity didn’t just give him a job. It shaped the way he would eventually mentor and lead others in his own career.

After a few years in the industry and a growing desire to earn his structural engineering license, Joe found himself looking for a firm that offered more than just a job; it needed to be a place that aligned with his values, projects that made the work meaningful, the freedom to lead, and the people. And that place was KPFF.

The year 1985, Joe joined KPFF in Los Angeles. Over the past four decades, Joe has helped shape not only buildings but also the company itself. From being one of just nine employees in the office to seeing the team grow to nearly 190 employees across LA and Orange County, he’s played a role in KPFF’s evolution. He’s been a mentor, a principal, and a steady leader in times of crisis like the aftermath of the Northridge earthquake, an intense period that pushed everyone beyond what they thought was possible.

Even now, semi-retired, Joe continues to work on projects with clients he’s built longtime relationships with. “At this point,” he says, “I don’t care what the project is—as long as it’s with the people I want to work with.”

What’s kept Joe around for 40 years? The satisfaction of solving problems, working with good people, and finding joy in the process.

Joe is excited to get back to his old hobbies of fishing and traveling, beginning with a long-awaited vacation to England, as he looks to the future. Joe Stewart’s story isn’t just about designing structures. It’s about building connections, embracing challenges, and never underestimating where a stack of cocktail napkins can take you.