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…