Born in 1960, Ian Banks is a practicing architect, as well as occasional public art consultant, critical writer & journaler. He is sole Director of Atoll Ltd, his micro architecture + art collaborative established in 2007, that over the years has partnered with a network of artists, designers, landscape architects, engineers, curators and other creative industries.

The (predominantly) residential design service offered by Atoll Architecture is today the major part of its bigger limited company portfolio. In his vocation, Ian takes great pride in the integrity of this work, and strives to always deliver creative design, customer service and professionalism in equal measure.

Through other Atoll strands, Ian also pursues artistic, non-profit and voluntary interests in arts and culture, working in the wider public realm – as well as in citizen science linked particularly to river and other freshwater ecology. In doing this, he informally ploughs back any profits gained from his commercial architectural commissions to help sustain other cultural and community ‘placemaking’ affiliations. These include his volunteering and any other agreed pro bono work. At any one time, Atoll’s work is split to varying degrees between the four main working strands of:

• Architecture – Private Housing, Leisure & Hospitality
• Public Art – Collaborations and Curatorial Consultancy in Arts-Led Regeneration
• Writing – Articles, Journaling & Social Media blogs
• Affiliations – Associations, Memberships & Volunteering

Ian first qualified as an RIBA Chartered Architect over 36-years ago in 1990, following a 2-year VSO posting as Head Architect working for the Republic of Maldives’ Ministry of Education. After qualification he also worked for 2 further years in the sustainable tourist island design sector there. This overseas spell was then followed by 8-years working in the UK in both the community architecture and commercial sectors. Then, for 4 years between 2000 and 2004, in a mid-career sabbatical, he began to expand on his parallel interests in the arts whilst on a temporary secondment placement as the Public Art & Architecture Officer acting for Arts Council England, North West, North West Development Agency and RIBA NW. Following this, Ian launched Atoll, his self-styled ‘architecture and art collaborative’ in January 2005. His current practice has now been running continually now for over 22 years (and over 19 years as his limited company Atoll Ltd).

For other advice and information more bespoke to your project, feel free to contact Atoll Architecture Director and architect Ian Banks on 07717710014 or ian.banks@atoll-uk.com.

As part of the mandatory obligations under his architect Code of Conduct, Ian Banks undertakes at least 35 hours of ‘relevant learning’ each year as part of his ongoing CPD (Continuing Professional Development) commitment.

Linked to this, Atoll also is obliged to carry Professional Indemnity Insurance. His current annual cover is £1m – with no professional claims against either Ian or company in over 36-years of qualified practice. As such, Ian is automatically duty bound by all the relative professional Codes of Conduct of the Architects Registration Board and the Association of Consultant Architects.

Ian is also one of a reduced national cohort of just 200 UK specialist ‘Experts’ re-appointed by Design Council in May 2024 fora third spell. He was previously listed on the Green Register of consultants – and since May 2024 has been registered by Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council as part of their approved ‘Planning Agents Accreditation Scheme’.