Robert Delius

Associate Director, Head of Sustainability

Rob is an architect and Head of Sustainabilty. He specialises in residential and mixed-use developments and is passionate about sustainability and placemaking.

Rob organises our annual Green Week and has led initiatives such as Sinking House, 52 Big Ideas for Bristol, Bath Wellbeing City. In 2021, he helped us achieve our B Corp Certification and carbon neutral status.

Outside of work, you’ll probably find him in the garden of the low-carbon home he designed in Bath. In 2022, he took time off work to complete an epic walk from John o’Groats to Land’s End.

Rob, what’s your favourite project that you’ve worked on to date?

Great Bow Yard in Langport. There was a sense that we were doing something different in sustainable construction at the time, and the way our developer client actively encouraged us to challenge the design of conventional housing was hugely motivational.

My favourite non-architectural project is Sinking House. We somehow managed to get permission to float a large sculpture of a red house in the river in front of Bath’s iconic Grade I listed Pulteney Bridge. The installation communicated the urgent need for climate action in the lead up to COP26. It was a big collaboration with lots of other organisations and individuals. We were all really pleased with the level of local and global interest it generated.

Who is your biggest career influence?

Having the opportunity to work in Australia in my Part 1 year, where good architecture is about connecting with the outdoors and the landscape. I fell in love with their outdoor lifestyle and creating spaces that merge inside and out. Californian architects John Lautner and Mickey Muennig also design in this vein and their buildings are incredibly inspiring.

What is your proudest moment?

Winning the RIBA ‘Imagine Bath’ competition with Waters of Bath. The idea is about celebrating the city’s water heritage by introducing a whole network of water features.

Tell us an interesting fact that nobody knows about you

I’m related to the English composer Frederick Delius. He apparently said “Music is an outburst of the soul” – captured well in his ‘Walk to the Paradise Garden’ piece. I think that architecture also has the opportunity to be an outburst of the soul. Our work should at least be uplifting for those who experience it.

What is the best book you’ve read?

Wild, by Jay Griffiths. The first few pages are dynamite. It’s all about living life to the full and basically spending as much time outdoors as possible.

Industry Bodies:
  • ARB
  • RIBA
  • Sustainability Advisor at RIBA South West Awards 2017
  • University of West of England External Examiner
  • Member of Architecture Is in Bath
  • Waters of Bath Working Group
Awards:
  • Great Bow Yard, Langport
    • Building for Life – Gold Award
    • Daily Telegraph / What House? Awards: Best Sustainable Development
    • RICS South West Regeneration award
    • RICS South West Sustainability award
    • RICS South West Project of the Year
  • Winning entry for RIBA Letchworth International design competition: ‘Tomorrow’s Garden City: A sustainable approach to living’.
  • Finalist entry for RIBA Letchworth International design competition: ‘Re-Imagining the Garden City’
  • Orchard Close, Almondsbury – Insider South West Property Awards ‘Residential Development of the Year’
  • Baltic Wharf, Totnes- Highly Commended at The Placemaking Awards
  • Winning entry for RIBA Imagine Bath competition
  • 52 Big Ideas for Bristol – Highly Commended at The Landscape Institute Awards
  • Sinking House – AJ100 Collaboration of the Year

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