Robert Denton has worked at Tanner Architects since 1990, with the firm renamed Tanner Kibble Denton Architects in 2012. He became an associate director in 1995 and a director in 2002, and has extensive experience on educational and institutional projects.

Architecture & Design spoke to him about his current projects, the challenge of integrating existing buildings and why working with institutional clients satisfies him.

What are you working on at the moment?

I am currently working on a range of new educational and community projects, including the masterplan for a co-ed school in Wahroonga and the design development for a new multi-purpose Hall for a boy’s school in Manly.

Construction will soon commence on an indoor swimming pool for a girl’s school in Mittagong, whilst the new Burwood Library is due to complete in the early new year. We are once again working with Campbelltown City Council on further works to the Art Gallery we designed back in 2006 and I continue on-going work with the Australian National University and the University of Notre Dame Australia.

This year we have completed the second stage of the Public Policy School for the Australian National University, which was the culmination of 8 years of work for our team and $40M in construction costs. Our design for the substantial rebuilding of an inner city girls school was also completed, after three years in construction.

What has been the most challenging thing about those projects completed to date?

Our projects usually involve the challenges of integrating with existing buildings, sensitive landscapes and environments. Educational projects also present a number of challenges in meeting and balancing the varying needs of staff, students, board of trustees and the broader community.

Avoiding disruption to the operations of the institution during construction, safety of staff and students, meeting term timeframes and of course budgets are also key issues to contend with in any educational or community project. 

However, the most important objective is to always explore and integrate new learning concepts and technology to provide the most positive learning and social environment.

You have been involved in both large and small scale projects. What is your favourite type of project to work on?

I have been involved in a lot of institutional work including schools, universities and community buildings. I enjoy this type of work due the interaction with the broad range of stakeholders, clients and consultants and the processes involved in designing to meet project briefs and budgets. 

Institutional clients are usually looking to the long-term and are willing to invest in quality design. Small projects have their challenges as much as larger projects and we are always working on a mixture of both large and small. The satisfaction of these projects comes from producing a good design outcome that meets the needs of all stakeholders and building on-going relationships with the clients.

Do you prefer projects where you have free reign to do what you like or do you prefer to have set parameters that you need to work around?

There are always challenges and constraints with the work we do. I can’t recall that we have ever had a ‘free reign’. I derive a lot of satisfaction from seeing us resolve difficult problems and meeting clients’ needs, despite significant constraints. Having said that there are often times where it would be nice to have a slightly larger site or more budget.

Where do you think you'll be in five years’ time?

The building industry has been relatively quiet for a few years now due to the financial crisis. Tanner Kibble Denton Architects has managed to stay stable during this period and even build on our portfolio, which is relatively diverse including institutional, educational, multi-unit house, single dwelling and adaptive reuse and heritage. I expect that we will come out of this period much stronger. I would like to think that we will still be associated with most of our current clients and that we will also develop some new associations that may lead us in some new directions.