From Saudi Arabian oil refineries to the Bermuda Maritime Museum, Stuart G. Galloway’s architectural career has spanned the globe.

Recently promoted to senior associate from project manager at Kluger Architects Inc. in Long Beach, he will be working on projects that include the new Our Lady of Guadalupe parish in Oxnard and Crown City Veterinary Clinic in Pasadena.

Born and raised in England, his original intent was to become an automotive designer, but his high school tests were not strong enough to qualify him as a design studio apprentice at the English car companies. Instead, Galloway worked as an assistant at architecture firms before attending South Bank University in London, where he earned his architecture degree.

He continued his love affair with cars by racing for a local garage on weekends, but has no regrets about becoming an architect. “I love my job, it has taken me around the world,” Galloway said.

In Saudi Arabia, his work was imbued with the cultural limitations inherent in an Islamic country. “We had to design offices with ‘purdah walls.’ Women and men don’t share the same workspace there,” he said.

Galloway came to the United States in 1980, working in Rhode Island for a number of years before joining a small firm in Bermuda. After six years and much growth, he decided he “could not live in paradise anymore.”

Being an architect, he said, was all about doing good research.

“Buildings are not about ego trips. What is important is the people who use them, regardless of whether they are Islamic, Catholic or Jewish. I design it for their sensibilities.”

Galloway, 58, lives in Long Beach with his wife and spends his free time collecting and reading books, listening to music and renovating his bungalow.