Robert Adamson, MEDes’89

Looking back on a career that has helped shape some of Canada's most recognizable public spaces, Robert Adamson, MEDes'89, is hesitant to take much credit for any of it. 

His name is attached to landmark projects like the Calgary Central Library, the Calgary Cancer Centre and the Calgary International Airport, but Adamson is just as likely to talk about the people he worked alongside as he is the buildings themselves. 

Ask about his success and the conversation quickly turns to the mentors who believed in him, the opportunities that came at just the right moment and the responsibility he now feels to create those same opportunities for others. 

It's a perspective that has quietly guided more than 35 years in architecture and one that makes Adamson, a fitting recipient of the UCalgary Alumni Career Achievement Award. Through his work at DIALOG, first as a partner and now as partner emeritus, he has helped shape the physical landscape of Calgary while earning a reputation as a collaborative leader, thoughtful mentor and champion for architecture that puts people first. 

Long before graduate school at UCalgary, before designing libraries or airports, and before becoming one of Canada's most respected architects, Adamson was simply a first-generation university student trying to figure out where he fit. 

His parents had immigrated from Scotland in the 1950s in search of a better life. University was unfamiliar territory for the family, and when Adamson earned just 26 per cent on his first computing science midterm at the University of Victoria, he was convinced post-secondary may not have been the best path for him. 

"I thought, 'There's no way I'm cut out for this university thing,'" he recalls, while shaking his head.  

Adamson was already considering leaving school when his parents offered advice that would stay with him for the rest of his life. 

"They said, 'You can't quit after one bad experience, you should use it as something to learn from,'" he says. 

It was a lesson that stayed with him as he returned to Calgary and eventually enrolled in UCalgary's Master of Environmental Design program. There, another seemingly ordinary moment would change the course of his life. 

For his graduate thesis, Adamson had built a detailed architectural model and wanted to photograph it professionally. He knew the Calgary firm Cohos Evamy (now DIALOG) owned a specialized camera lens designed for photographing scale models from the inside, so he made a call to see if he could borrow it. 

Though the firm politely declined to lend out the expensive equipment, they invited him to bring the model to their office instead. As Adamson worked in one of the firm's boardrooms, senior partner Michael Evamy happened to walk past the open door. Curious, he stepped inside to ask the young student about the project.  

Before leaving, he handed Adamson his business card and asked a simple question: "When you finish defending your thesis, do you have a job?" 

At the time, Adamson did. He had a job working for Petro-Canada, planning warehouse layouts across Western Canada. The salary was excellent, especially for a young graduate student, but the work left him wondering why he had spent years studying architecture, only to decide “where batteries and tires should be stored.” 

Looking at Evamy's business card a few days later, he realized what he truly wanted to do.  

"It was the smartest move I ever made," Adamson says with a laugh. 

Looking back, Adamson realizes it wasn't simply about landing a job; it was about someone taking the time to notice a young architect and open a door. That unexpected conversation became the beginning of a career spanning more than three decades with the same firm. 

"I might not have had the career path at all that I ended up having," he says. 

It served as a reminder that careers are often shaped by people willing to open a door for themselves or for another. Throughout his own journey, Adamson found mentors who continued to do exactly that. 

One of the most influential was Jim Goodwin, a senior partner at DIALOG who encouraged him to pursue opportunities others within the firm believed were out of reach. In 1998, DIALOG had never designed an airport. When an opportunity arose to compete for a major expansion at Calgary International, many questioned whether the firm had the experience to win. 

Together, Goodman and Adamson secured what was, at the time, the largest commission in the firm's history. At the time, it was a bold decision. DIALOG had never designed an airport, and many within the firm questioned whether they should even pursue the opportunity. Winning the commission not only transformed Adamson's own career, it established DIALOG's aviation practice and opened the door to major airport projects across Canada. 

For Adamson, however, the greatest lesson he learned from Goodman had little to do with architecture. 

"He taught me how to be a professional," he says. "He was very good at leading teams, making people feel good about their work, providing constructive critique and managing relationships." 

Those lessons became the foundation of Adamson's own leadership style. Today, his portfolio includes some of Calgary's defining public buildings, but he rarely talks about them in terms of awards or recognition. Instead, he talks about what those buildings mean to the people who use them. They also shaped how he approached every project. 

"The client is the most important part of the design team," he says. "Architecture is collaborative." 

The Calgary Central Library remains one of the projects closest to his heart. Working alongside internationally renowned architect Craig Dykers and the team at Snøhetta, Adamson led DIALOG's role in delivering a building inspired by southern Alberta's Chinook arch, one that has become both an internationally recognized piece of architecture and a cherished civic space. 

"It changed the visual landscape of our city," he says. "We don't always get a chance as architects to work on world-class architecture."  

Today, it stands as one of Calgary's defining civic spaces, a place where architecture, community and public life come together under one roof. 

Another of his projects, the Arthur J.E. Child Comprehensive Cancer Centre at UCalgary, represents something different. Months spent working alongside clinicians and health-care professionals reinforced that architecture has the power to influence far more than a skyline. Thoughtful design can help reduce stress, support healing, and improve the experience of patients and families facing some of life's most difficult moments. 

"It has the ability to be a difference-maker in people's lives," Adamson says. 

For Adamson, that has always been the goal. 

"Buildings hang around for centuries," he says. "They've got to be good." 

That philosophy has remained remarkably consistent, even as architecture has changed dramatically over the course of his career. Having witnessed the profession evolve from drafting tables to computer-aided design and now artificial intelligence, Adamson sees AI as a powerful tool that will undoubtedly reshape parts of architecture. At the same time, he believes there are elements of design that technology cannot replace. 

"AI can't tell the romantic story of architecture," he says. 

Technology can generate concepts or complete routine tasks, but it cannot understand why a place matters to a community or how a building should make people feel. 

"Architecture isn't a science," Adamson says. "It's about stories. It's about creating emotion." 

That same people-first philosophy has shaped the way Adamson approaches leadership. When he stepped down as a partner, it wasn't because he wanted to stop contributing. It was because he believed younger architects deserved the same opportunities he had been given throughout his own career. 

"There are only so many seats at the table," he says. 

Today, as partner emeritus, he continues to consult with DIALOG while mentoring younger colleagues and helping them navigate the profession. 

"I think it's our responsibility to create pathways for other people to succeed," Adamson says. 

Receiving the Career Achievement Award has also rekindled Adamson's connection with UCalgary. He hopes to spend more time engaging with students, sharing the lessons he has learned and encouraging young architects to remain curious. 

His advice is refreshingly simple. 

"Explore your curiosity." 

Career Achievement Award 

The UCalgary Alumni Career Achievement Award recognizes a graduate whose leadership and accomplishments have had a positive impact in their professional field or industry. This individual will have achieved excellence and distinction in their career.