
Derek Noble, AIA
I’m not exactly sure when I decided to pursue this profession, but from an early age, I wanted to be an architect. When I was a kid, I was given an Etch-A-Sketch and a View-Master to keep me busy. These so-called toys, along with partially filled sketchbooks, broken pencils, and dried-up markers, became central to my childhood. Ever since, I’ve been fascinated with trying to reconcile the formal landscape with a defined sense of place.
Designer, collaborator, innovator, mentor, artist—I embrace whatever role needs to be performed. Known for imaginative and sensible solutions, I work best utilizing a collaborative and creative problem-solving process to develop design concepts that realize the client’s vision. Design is an activity enriched by the opportunity for dialogue, reflection, and experimentation. It is an open-ended and evolving process that requires ideas to be continually assessed and reassessed. I like to start somewhere in the middle. Despite a long history of experience with institutional projects, I still get excited each time my designs are built and inhabited. Whether working with healthcare, academic, or workplace clients, I hope it’s evident that architecture matters to me. I love what I do.
I often tell my mother that everything I needed to know about architecture I learned while working in our family print shop. Working as the graphic designer through high school and college, I was engaged in all aspects of the design process – from creative thinking and refinement of concept to scheduling and production. She always responds by asking why she paid for me to go to college…