It’s with nice unhappiness that we farewell Jeffrey Robinson, who handed away far too early following an accident on Sunday 7 April 2024.
Jeff was a legend in our trade, an unrelenting champion for a greater constructed surroundings. He was a beautiful colleague and buddy to many.
With a level in Constructing Providers Engineering from Trinity Faculty on the College of Dublin, Jeff went to work for Arup in London, organising its Cork workplace in 1991 and its Melbourne workplace in 1997. In 2003, Jeff joined Connell Mott MacDonald, which later grew to become Aurecon.
Aside from driving innovation on numerous initiatives as international sustainable design experience leaderat Aurecon, Jeff’s advocacy engagements had been probably probably the most in depth in our trade. They included roles on the Victorian Heritage Council, the Australian Passive Home Affiliation and the Property Council’s Victorian Sustainability Committee to call a couple of.
If there had been an award for the individual most engaged in trade throughout disciplines and thru numerous occasions, Jeff would have gained it, fingers down, yr on yr. In reality, he was in a league of his personal.
As many colleagues recall, each time Jeff wasn’t presenting or on a dialogue panel himself, you possibly can all the time rely on him to ask the primary query at any occasion. However extra importantly, his questions had been all the time considerate and constructive.
Jeff was an important supporter of the architectural occupation and a jury member in lots of architectural awards. Good structure, for him, all the time meant evidence-based and sustainable design. He contributed his deep understanding of passive design – and of integrating it with mechanical engineering – to the event of the Inexperienced Constructing Council of Australia’s Inexperienced Star instruments, which have change into trade benchmarks in lots of sectors.
The checklist of initiatives by which Jeff was instrumental is lengthy and illustrious. It contains the primary retrofitted workplace constructing in Australia to realize 6 Star Inexperienced Star certification, 40 Albert Street in South Melbourne with SJB Architects; and the world’s largest instructional constructing to realize Passive Home certification, Monash College’s Woodside Constructing with Grimshaw Architects.
Jeff was a extremely revered technical specialist for sustainability on the Victorian Design Evaluate Panel run by the Workplace of the Victorian Authorities Architect. We fondly bear in mind when he referred to as in from his native Dublin at two o’clock within the morning for a design overview, the place his distinctive skillset was wanted for a key Victorian venture. He was adamant he was glad to make time to attend and did so together with his innate professionalism and limitless enthusiasm. Jeff was passionate and charmingly relentless in making an attempt to make a constructive distinction wherever he noticed a chance.
Whoever met Jeff couldn’t be untouched, so infectious had been his joyful method and zest for working collectively to make issues higher. Jeff had the uncommon skill to name out the urgent problems with our time and albeit level to the development potential on initiatives, whereas radiating positivity and encouragement.
It’s merciless irony that we misplaced Jeff, a passionate advocate of excellent city design for strolling and biking, to poor visitors planning that failed to guard pedestrians like him. We sincerely hope that by inspiring eventual enhancements to city environments, this tragedy – and Jeff – will save others’ lives.
We sorely miss Jeff and might solely vow to proceed working more durable in the direction of what he cared about: a more healthy and extra sustainable place to dwell. Our ideas exit to Jeff’s spouse Carolyn, their daughters and their wider household at this extremely tough time.
A memorial forest is being planted to rejoice Jeff Robinson’s life and legacy. Administered by Greenfleet, the forest might be legally protected for 100 years, permitting it to develop right into a self-sustaining ecosystem that can thrive past this century – an applicable recognition of Jeff’s ardour for and dedication to sustainability.
When you’ve got been touched by Jeff or what he stood for and want to contribute to Jeff’s forest, you are able to do so right here.