Ian Banks qualified as an RIBA Part III Chartered Architect in 1990 after a 2-year VSO posting as Head Architect for the Maldives Ministry of Education. This was followed by 10-years working in the UK in the community architecture and commercial sectors.
For four years between 2000 and 2004, in a mid-career sabbatical, he expanded on his past interests in public art whilst on a temporary part-time secondment as the Public Art & Architecture Officer for Arts Council England, North West. Following this, he launched his public art and architecture 'collaborative' called Atoll in 2005.
Since then Ian has also acted as a part-time (and both paid and unpaid) Associate Consultant at Beam, Wakefield – part of the Architecture Centre Network. He has also written regularly on art and architecture for a number of publications including: Art & Architecture Journal, The Art Times supplement to the Times newspaper, Prospect NW, A Magazine, Architecture Centre Network’s Snapshots, The English Historic Towns Forum's Manual for Historic Streets, and the US publication Public Art Review. He is currently also the voluntary Deputy Editor of the Art & Architecture Journal.