David W. Mason, AIA

President & CEO

David Mason is the driving force behind DMA. A licensed architect with a strong entrepreneurial streak, David teamed up with Jim Hacking, a land surveyor, to start their own firm in 1989. At first, they worked out of a 10’ by 10’ office in downtown St. Louis and poured their earning right back into the business.

Over the next couple of years the partners added civil and structural engineering departments, allowing DMA to build a diverse design portfolio featuring major site development projects – an NFL stadium, Federal courthouses, waste water tunnels and several open-end contracts at Lambert St. Louis International Airport and the business grew.

David has always been a natural leader and an “idea guy,” David could always conceive of a never-ending stream of “better mouse traps.” His schemes compelled his friends, and amused his loved ones….and then he made them happen. His first business, an auto detailing shop run out of his parents’ garage, had one employee….his brother Paul, who remains one of David’s closest friends and advisors.

If it is true that “the child is father to the man,” David’s path was always clear. In high school he was president of the class, captain of the football and baseball teams, a National Merit Scholar who could have gone anywhere and done anything. He chose St. Louis, and architecture, as if he were destined. As a kid he loved to build structures out of cardboard and balsa wood, and to hang out at home construction sites after hours observing the basics of framing a house.

Now, as a professional with nearly four decades of experience and the President of DMA, he has a design philosophy emphasizing a critical examination of conventional attitudes while establishing a balance between practical function and human needs. David’s management and technical leadership skills assure the client that the project team will receive the resources and the leadership required to meet or exceed all project goals and objectives.

Married to Christine Buck since 1980, David is father to Taylor and Spencer – both leaders within DMA. In his leisure time, David plays baseball, is an avid golfer and a very good cook.