The Extreme Lives of SWFL
Steve Turner


www.gulfcoasttimes.net, April 2008

Witty and charming, “art-itect” Steve B. Turner is one of those rare accomplished professionals, who has achieved yet more stardom on the side.

Turner’s career began nearly 21 years ago. As the president of Bradford and Company Design Group, he and his wife Mollie began by offering design and rendering services to local and national architects, builders, developers and more.

“Everything has come full circle now,” Turner says. “For years, we created highly detailed delineations for commercial and residential projects. Today, we still do architectural renderings, but we’ve blossomed into designing custom high-end residential homes also…everything from floor plans to interior and exterior perspectives of projects.”

The successful 51-year-old described how as a child, life was always drenched in art. Growing up the son of a commercial artist, Turner says he actually wanted to become an architect, but never got around to it because of other interests.

“I was always using artwork somewhere down the line,” he adds. “When I was 13, I was airbrushing surfboards and skateboards and later I got into airbrushing motorcycles and cars. From there, I went into construction for a long time.”

Eventually, everything pointed Turner’s life into design sketching. And currently, Bradford Design is the artistic mind behind ventures like Cape Harbour, the Venezia, the Venetian Towers, and projects in Costa Rica, Panama, Sweden and more.

Turner’s love for his profession is immense, but his heart seems to always be at sea. With flip-flops, swimming trunks and his Besséll surfboard, he feels at home.

Paddling back to earlier years in Fort Lauderdale, Turner remembers living only ten miles from the beach.

“When I was eight, I would skateboard with the neighborhood kids,” he recalls with a smile. “We were really good. And then, skateboarding kind of flowed into surfing. I remember I had built this trailer that would hook to my bike and we’d carry our surfboards down to the beach everyday, no matter what kind of waves they were.”


Little Turner’s hobbies progressed and ultimately he and his friends obtained a sponsorship from a company called Z-Flex Skateboards. Turner then moved to Mission Beach, California and met the famous DogTown SkateBoarders. And for some time, he and the crew traveled nationally performing stunts for crowds; all the while, still surfing every chance he got.

“It was an incredible time out there always,” Tuner says. “Me and the guys were using the influences from our skateboarding to do surf, but living in Fort Myers has made it a little difficult to catch some waves, but any chance I get…I take it.”

Turner shares how recently a business trip to Costa Rica gave way to awesome memories.

“I picked up a surfboard at about four in the afternoon with 10 – 15 foot waves,” he says with an infectious laugh. “I know it wasn’t a smart thing to do, but I just had too. It felt like I was 20 again, with all this adrenaline rushing through me. I took off on the wave and got up and I did what I used to do…really cool.”

To this surfer, water is paradise on Earth and although his alter egos might differ one thing connects them—the thrill of a challenge.

“When I’m surfing, I’m always trying to come up with something new,” says Turner. “When I’m designing, I’m always pushing the limits of a project…basically I’m always challenging myself, whether it’s on the water or on paper.”