About

Robert John Borg is a retired architect whose work and writing connect the practical business of building with a wider interest in science, history, and public life.

From Malta to architectural practice

Born in Malta in 1945, he grew up in East London after the Second World War. He graduated from the University of Sheffield in 1968 with first-class honours in architecture. His thesis, A Guide to the Design of Buildings for the Mediterranean Region with Special Reference to Malta, explored the relationship between climate, building science, and architectural design.

Before establishing Robert Borg Associates in 1971, he worked as a project architect with Building Design Partnership in the United Kingdom and the Rouse Company in the United States. RBA’s work spanned public and private buildings, housing, commercial and interior projects, and land development.

Design, climate, and construction

Throughout his practice, he placed particular importance on how buildings respond to their climate and perform in use. His projects incorporated active and passive solar design and earth-sheltering, bringing building science into decisions about form, orientation, materials, and energy use.

He also saw construction management as a natural extension of the architect’s responsibilities. Working closely with clients, his approach brought design, quality, cost, and time into the same conversation, from a project’s inception through its completion.

These experiences inform The Business of Architecture & Development with Reference to the USA and the UK. Drawing on professional practice and his own development projects, the book considers the architect’s business model and the opportunities for a new generation to take a broader leadership role.

Writing and wider interests

His interests reach beyond architecture to art, history, cosmology, travel, music, and global politics. In US Democracy in Crisis: Truth Over Deception in Both Religion and Politics, he turns to questions of belief, evidence, religion, and democratic life.

Now retired, he is working with his son Doug to bring these writings together and prepare new reading editions, including a digital edition of the original 1968 thesis. This website is a home for those books and for further notes and reflections.