Curt Sachs is a Maine Licensed Architect who first worked as a cancer therapist before going to grad school, where he received his M.Arch from the University of New Mexico. During the 13 years he lived in New Mexico, Curt was involved with early residential passive solar designs. Much of his experience has been in the area of healthcare planning and design. He has worked in large architectural firms, directed design and construction groups at major academic medical centers, and has had his own practice.

Since, as he calls it, re-inventing himself in Maine, he has taught sustainable design, historic preservation and introductory architecture courses at UMA and SMCC. Curt recently started an integrated teaching approach at UMA where sustainability is taught integrally with studio projects. In June he will attend the annual retreat of the Society of Building Science Educators in Albuquerque, where the program includes discussion of innovative teaching approaches. He is working with UMA and USM to start a Community Design Center to provide community planning and architectural assistance to not for profit entities through collaboration between students and faculty. Community Design Center will be based at UMA Architecture School’s new home in the historic Gannett Building on Water Street in Augusta.

In his practice, Curt is currently restoring the 1894 Walker Memorial Library in Westbrook. He has renovated several community libraries in New Jersey. Curt also has been working with the volunteer organization Konbit Sante, planning and designing hospital and clinic renovations in Cap Haitien, on the North coast of Haiti. In October 2010 he traveled to Haiti with a small group of infrastructure experts to develop and implement several projects.

Curt loves to mentor his students and can frequently be found doing desk crits with students at the large round table at Aurora Provisions. Curt has two sons, one is an architect in Seattle, the other an attorney in New Jersey, and Curt’s daughter lives in Maryland. He lives on the West End with his wife Nina, who is the Children’s and Young Adult librarian at the Walker Memorial Library in Westbrook, and two golden retrievers Sophie and Jude, his drafter and plotter.