Andrew E Mitchell’s interest in the built environment was first sparked in the early 1970’s with a train set under the Christmas tree. At this young age he quickly absorbed the lessons learned from building structures from kits and moved on to custom designing and building model structures.
Development of this desire to design into career skills took place at the highly regarded University of Kansas School of Architecture. Andrew graduated from the University of Kansas School of Architecture Five Year Program with a well earned Bachelor of Architecture in May of 1984.
In this field education does not stop with graduation. Andrew’s hard work and dedication in capitol facility style construction of bricks, block, concrete and steel coupled with extensive site planning requirements gave excellent grounding and contributed to an impressive portfolio.
This attitude towards learning and experience contributed to Andrew being among the elite 16% to pass the Kansas licensing exam at first sitting in the Spring of 1988.
Interest in the building styles in the Pacific Northwest drew Andy out to Olympia, Washington in 1990. Projects in that region included a large number of custom residences on saltwater frontage, a significant number of schools and a position as in-house architect at a major regional mall. He was brought in at temporary positions with the State of Washington from time to time to address projects. When not engaged at work his outdoor recreational passions filled out the time with hiking, back country backpacking, and in the winter Nordic and Telemark skiing.
Professional opportunities drew Andrew back to Kansas in the spring of 1996 with a position as lead Architect for a 50 year old Architecture and Engineering firm in Topeka, Kansas. The position gave Andrew the opportunity to share the vision of the founding partners and form his own mature vision and skill set in the field of Architecture.
Further opportunity and the pull of the mountains brought Andrew to Denver, Colorado in the Spring of 1998. Through a variety of design firms in and around Denver Andrew engaged in a number of significant projects spanning a wide spectrum including; banks, multi-family residential, schools, medical facilities, commercial settings, and international aviation facilities.
As principal of Studio 285 Architecture he has further developed an impressive portfolio of custom residential work. His philosophy to design is that the clients ‘design their projects through him’, an organic process that results in an unique design tailored to the client’s needs.
Andrew’s talents have found their expression a new endeavor, Studio 285 Clockworx. The design and execution of fine wooden clocks serves as and outlet for his passion for woodworking. It also serves as an excellent compliment to his architectural design practice.
He is also a passionate writer, with several novels in progress, along with several short stories.
Now based in South Dakota, he is eager to apply his talents anew plus rebuild renew old relationships and build new ones.