Robert Kearns

Bob Kearns brings highly regarded expertise to cultural, commercial, and educational projects. He views architecture as a multi-disciplinary process that blurs the lines between architecture and engineering. Bob has over 15 years of experience leading engineering design teams in projects around the world at Buro Happold Engineering and more recently has founded Derive Engineers.

His educational background emphasized integration of all building engineering disciplines with architectural design and environmental consciousness. Bob’s academic career has given him the opportunity to explore the fusion of the arts and building sciences through the expansion and development of numerous local and national cultural institutions, such as Sperone Westwater Gallery, Crystal Bridge Museum of American Art and Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. He developed and lead design teams for Federal project which focused on United State Embassies around the world. His keen attention to the details of bespoke cultural and embassy projects has enabled him to develop innovative designs which strike a delicate balance between the aesthetic vision, security requirements and engineering rigor.

Academically, Bob is a Visiting Professor at Pratt Institute’s Graduate Architecture and Urban Design program as well as an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP). Bob is a licensed Professional Engineer in New York State, California, Massachusetts, Arizona and Oklahoma.

University of Cambridge: Master of Studies for Interdisciplinary Design for the Building Environment
Penn State University: Master of Engineering in Architectural Engineering
Penn State University: Bachelor of Engineering in Architectural Engineering