Noel Robinson is the managing director of architecture firm, the NRA Collaborative. He is involved in urban design panels in Brisbane and on the Sunshine Coast. He told SCHWARTZWILLIAMS he hopes to see the architecture industry become more creative in responding to climate and context.

How did you decide to become an architect?

I always had a passion for drawing and could think three dimensionally – it was a natural. The decision was clear, I never wanted to do anything else. But I had a game plan to play music while I studied until I was 25, then go for the big career.

What do you enjoy most about your job?

Connecting with people and creating value for our clients whilst producing works of art and getting paid for it – I love it!

What is the role of a good architect?

Understand what the client is looking for, how to deliver it in the best way possible. Discover the paradigm shift, to think sustainably, deliver something unique, excite the client and respect the environment, context and climate.

Can you tell us about an interesting project you have worked on recently?

We have been fortunate enough be involved in two of Brisbane’s most exciting projects; the first being Brisbane Skytower, our city’s tallest building – it is 90 storeys and will have the tallest infinity pool in the world. Secondly, Brisbane Live, which is the most important new urban regeneration project in Brisbane. This will be the catalyst for the new City West Urban Precinct which sits in the most connected site in Brisbane which connects 5 different railway and bus systems, converging in the one place – Bingo!

You have been heavily involved in the architecture and urban design of Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast. What are the main architecture / urban design themes in those two cities?

In Brisbane, I chair the Independent Design Advisory Panel and sit on the Urban Futures Brisbane Board, and the key theme is to develop an iconography for the city moving forward that is reflective of its place climatically in the world which is energy efficient, comfortable to live in and demonstrates the uniqueness of Brisbane as the first Queenslanders did when we first inhabited this city.

As for the Sunny Coast, I chair the Urban Design Advisory Panel for the Sunshine Coast Council. The Sunny Coast is more of a coastal community with relaxed family values. It respects the landscape and biodiversity around the beach and the mountains. The Urban Design Advisory Panel looks forward for the council and assists them with the broader planning issues that are coming up, rather than reviewing development applications, so the council are always ahead of the game in this regard. The Sunshine Coast is about more relaxed, light, tactile, cross-ventilated open plan living with densities built up around the main beaches and hinterland.

Both panels are advisory and at the end of the day, the politicians make the decisions.

If you could change one element of the architecture industry, what would it be?

I would like the profession to be more creative in responding to climate, context, and innovation in order to deliver value without resorting to boredom and monotony in the built form. Without sounding like a prima donna - which I am not - we need to take a lead in the built form outcome of our city and reinforce an iconography befitting of place.

Where do you live now, and where would you live if you could live anywhere in the world?

I live between Ascot and Noosa, and I would not want to live anywhere else in the world – I have worked in over eight continents and there is nothing like South-East Queensland. Noosa provides my ‘Vitamin Sea’, and a small piece of paradise that relaxes the mind and stimulates creativity, whereas Brisbane provides access to the big smoke where all the action is and is where I feed my passion.

Robinson is also a multiple award winner and Life Fellow of the Australian Institute of Architects. In 2013, he was awarded ‘2013 Export Hero’ by the Export Council of Australia for his professional services in international markets. The same year he was awarded the National Trust Medal for the restoration of Nindooinbah Homestead in Qld. He won the Centenary Medal in 2001 through the Australian Honours System, and the 1990 BHP Architect of the Decade Award.

Read other Get to Know profiles about architects:

Get to know architect Elizabeth Watson Brown, design director with Architectus

Get to Know Fiona Young, architect of high-rise schools

Get to know Seada Linardi, founder of SLAB Architecture