I’ve lived in Cardiff since 2010, moving here to complete the Master of Architecture at the Welsh School of Architecture, Cardiff University.

Good friends who lived in Cardiff previous to 2010 always said what an amazing place it is to live.

Many weekend breaks to Cardiff later, I decided to choose Cardiff over London to continue my Architectural Training.

This June, after working for a number of diverse South Wales Architects, I decided to commit to Cardiff, founding my own Architecture Studio.

Colleagues who practice in London can’t quite understand why I want to be on the fringe of the architectural profession.

For me, it’s being able to cycle to work in the morning, walking to meetings. It’s the fact that I work in a historic, beautiful office in the Castle Arcade, a stones throw away from, unsurprisingly, the Castle and Bute Park.

Being able to ride from one side of the city to another in 25 minutes dissolves any barriers. With a better cycle network, I’m sure we could move around our city even easier.

Without becoming too focused on the built environment, the people of Wales and Cardiff really make this city. Such a diverse range of people, humble, intelligent people. It’s a pleasure to meet you all.

I’ve just awoken from my slumber in the Victorian Terrace I share in Grangetown, and soon I’ll be off around town, visiting the rock climbing centre, the city centre and Chapter later.

Looking forward to another day in Cardiff …

Stephen Paradise was a young boy who had an interest in all things art and design, and from a young age started to build multiple creations out of just one box of Lego, discarding the manual after a day. As the number of sets grew, so did the complexity of the designs; a Lego Super Jumbo Jet took its maiden flight down a set of stairs – to his mother’s dismay. Fortunately, many other ground based designs; army bases, towns, towers, castles & houses managed to avoid this ill fated mishap. This influential past time recently led the slightly older boy (now a young man about town) to found his own architecture and design studio in the heart of Cardiff.

This passion and dedication for all things ‘design’ culminated in a nomination for the Royal Institute of British Architecture Bronze Award 2009, exhibiting at Portland Place. The formative years of his career were spent at a small contemporary local practice, PADstudio, in the New Forest National Park, South England. He completed the Master of Architecture at the Welsh School of Architecture, Cardiff University and has since worked for a range of practices in Cardiff and Swansea for the past year.

Stephen was photographed by Jon Pountney in Castle Arcade.

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