Born in Brisbane in 1930, Robert Findlay (Robin) Gibson completed a Diploma of Architecture at The University of Queensland in 1954 and then moved to London, where he worked for Sir Hugh Casson, Neville Conder and James Cubitt and Partners. Returning to Brisbane in 1957, he established a practice under his own name with student architects Gabriel Poole, Geoffrey Pie and Robert Collin. Around 1970 this practice was renamed Robin Gibson and Partners.

In the 1950s and 60s Gibson's firm completed various residential and commercial jobs and government commissions for work at universities and colleges of advanced education. He rose to public prominence in 1973 after winning a competition to design a new Queensland Art Gallery. The success of this project led to a commission to design the Queensland Cultural Centre, a cluster of buildings that included the Art Gallery, the Queensland Museum, the Queensland State Library, and the Queensland Performing Arts Complex. Other prominent Gibson projects in Brisbane include Mayne Hall (The Great Hall), the Biological Sciences Library and Central Library at The University of Queensland, stage one of the Queen Street Mall, the ANZAC-Post Office Square redevelopment, the Government complex at 33 Charlotte Street, and 111 George Street. Robin Gibson and Partners was also awarded the project to restore Brisbane's St. Stephen’s Cathedral and Chapel.

Gibson was named Queenslander of the Year in 1982, and in 1983 became an Officer of the Order of Australia in recognition of his services to architecture. In 1989, he won the Australian Institute of Architects' Gold Medal. Also that year The University of Queensland conferred an honorary doctorate on Gibson for his distinguished contributions to the architecture of Australia, Brisbane, and the University.

Robin Gibson established an architectural practice in Brisbane under the name R. F. Gibson Architect in the late 1950s, employing student architects Gabriel Poole, Geoffrey Pie and Robert Collin. Around 1970 the practice was renamed Robin Gibson and Partners. Over the next three decades the firm was responsible for some of the most prominent public architecture in Brisbane, including the various stages of the Queensland Cultural Centre, the Queen Street Mall, and the ANZAC-Post Office Square redevelopment. The practice was wound up in 2013 when Gibson retired.