Lawrence Armstrong is reducing his role as chairman at Ware Malcomb amid new artistic and philanthropic projects.
Armstrong is in the ninth year out of a 10-year buyout. Come the end of 2026, Armstrong will fully transition out of the company.
“That’s going well, and the company’s doing really great,” Armstrong told the Business Journal.
Irvine-based Ware Malcomb ranks as the third-largest architectural firm in Orange County with $56.7 million locally in annual revenue and $190 million companywide for 2024.
Chief Executive Kenneth Wink and President Jay Todisco will continue to lead the company for the foreseeable future.
“As those guys plan their succession, we’ll have more news at that time,” Armstrong said.
The career transition will give Armstrong more time to pursue his other creative passions.
Since he won the Business Journal’s Excellence in Entrepreneurship Award last year for helping diversify Ware Malcomb’s portfolio of business, Armstrong has written a book titled “Layered Leadership” that’s being released in March and is set to take over as chairman of local nonprofit Orange County United Way in July.
Upcoming Release of Book
Armstrong has been at Ware Malcomb for more than four decades, including 28 years as CEO.
He first joined the company in 1984 as a young architect after graduating from Kent State University, quickly moving up the ranks from designer to project architect within his first year.
“Layered Leadership” recounts many of the lessons he’s taken away from his time at Ware Malcomb.
“I wrote the book hopefully to help anybody that’s trying to build an organization with some different ideas,” Armstrong said.
The book also features some of his art.
Armstrong, who describes his work as abstract expressionism, has scheduled solo art shows in New York, Cincinnati and Florence, Italy.
He will show some of his latest work, titled Layered Vision, a common theme in his work both in art and architecture.
Co-Chair of $350M Campaign at Kent State
Outside of promoting the release of his new book, Armstrong is heavily involved in Orange County United Way as vice chair and chairman of its United to End Homelessness initiative.
The initiative’s WelcomeHomeOC incentive program partners with local property owners and landlords to secure housing for people experiencing homelessness using housing vouchers.
Nearly 1,200 people have been housed through the program since launching in 2018, according to Armstrong. United to End Homelessness last year expanded their services with the new Whatever it Takes program in partnership with CalOptima Health. The partnership helps nonprofits fill in whatever financial gaps to get people housed quicker.
“United to End Homelessness is doing great in the community,” Armstrong said.
Armstrong is also on the foundation board of Kent State.
He and his wife Sandy co-chaired the Forever Brighter campaign that closed last June.
The campaign exceeded its goal of $350 million, having raised more than $383.2 million, with the help of a $1 million gift from the couple for the school’s Global Education Endowment.
Their gift renamed the endowment to the Lawrence R. and Sandra C. Armstrong Architecture Study Abroad Program.
