As longtime President and one of the firm’s founders, Ben was a guiding force in leading CWS since its inception in 1992.
After 34 incredible years at CWS Architecture + Interior Design and 40 years in the architecture industry between Texas and Maine, our founding principal, Benedict B. Walter has officially retired from active practice. His leadership has shaped the foundation of our firm, guiding us through decades of growth, innovation, and meaningful collaborations. While this marks the end of an era, the legacy he’s built will continue to inspire the future of CWS.
From the beginning, Ben focused his practice on the design of multifamily, special needs and senior residential communities, corporate office, and municipal facilities. Ben's career was passionately dedicated to promoting smart-growth urban design, environmental sustainability, historic preservation, and affordable housing in the Maine community and received numerous awards and citations for his work on those efforts.
Right out of college in 1986, Ben moved to Portland, Maine from Texas with a dusty pickup truck full of everything he owned, an architecture degree and forty-six dollars in cash. Two days later he started working for the predecessor firm to CWS. Today, Ben and his wife Cathy live in Portland with their two Golden Doodles ‘Baxter’ and ‘Blue’ and have two grown daughters. On top of his love of architecture, and in the Texas tradition, Ben is a lifelong musician, multi-instrumentalist, recording enthusiast, and songwriter. Ben is a passionate supporter of the arts and advancing environmental sustainability in building design, housing affordability, and social services in Maine. Ben and his family enjoy getaways to their family camp on a lake in the Maine woods and his family’s ancestral homelands of western Montana.