Thomas Robinson

Founding Principal
LEVER Architecture

Thomas Robinson is the Founder of LEVER Architecture, a 35-person firm based in Portland, Oregon, and Los Angeles, California. The firm collaborates with communities and institutions to design buildings that elevate human experience and foreground social and climate justice. LEVER is recognized nationally for design excellence and pioneering work with mass timber construction.

Thomas’ work encompasses multiple scales and types, ranging from a major expansion of the Portland Museum of Art to Adidas’ North American headquarters. In parallel with these projects, he has developed a research practice that creates and tests next generation building assemblies and sustainable tools—an effort supported by more than $2M in grant funding. For this commitment to groundbreaking design, LEVER was recognized by Fast Company as one of the world’s most innovative companies; and in 2017, was named to Architectural Record’s Design Vanguard and the Architectural League of New York’s Emerging Voices.

Selected current projects include Maine’s Portland Museum of Art, Portland State University’s School of Art + Design, two libraries for Multnomah County, a multi-building campus project for NBCUniversal; and 843 N Spring Street, a development slated to become one of Los Angeles’ largest CLT buildings.