A stator for an electrical machine includes teeth assembled from a plurality of stacked laminations mounted on a cylindrical protective surface thereby forming a plurality of slots. The stator also includes an armature winding assembled within the teeth by inserting components of the armature winding into the plurality of stator slots from positions external to the teeth in a manner that facilitates mitigating potential for coil distortion. The armature winding includes a plurality of coils that each include an end winding. The stator further includes a segmented yoke inserted around the armature winding in a manner that facilitates mitigating a potential for disturbing the end winding of the coils. Independently assembling the stator components in this manner facilitates varying a thickness and/or the number of heat conducting laminations between the yoke and teeth that subsequently facilitates heat transfer from the armature winding to an outer pressure casing of the machine.