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Breaking the Architect Mold: Enrique Soler’s Shift to Interior Design at Willmott Dixon Interiors
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[00:00:00]
Stephen Drew: That's right, strap on in. Another episode. Bit different today. If you thought about interiors, this is for you. If you thought about what a contractor does, This is also for you. I gotta get my bell ready. Hello everyone and welcome to this live stream special, which is pre recorded. I am sorry about that, but the [00:01:00] show goes on. You want the content and we're bringing it here together. Actually, this week I got a message from someone saying, Steve, I love the episode you've done on how to go from architecture To a developer, but can you give me the nuances on how to go to a main contractor?
And I sat there and I thought, I have no idea, but luckily I have met someone who has done this, not only done architecture, but also done interior design for a main contractor, as well as an architectural background. So while I don't know the answer, we will find out together. And on that note, I have the fantastic Enrique Soria, who is head of design At Wilmot Dixon Interiors.
Enrique, how are you today? Are you okay?
Enrique Soler: I am very good, Stephen. Thank you very much for having me. I'm very good.
Stephen Drew: It is true. I did have that message this week. So you have been buzzed in. Yeah, I did. I did have it this week. On that note, before we begin [00:02:00] while me and you know each other, We've talked a bit about music and all that cool stuff. We like the rock. We love the mashing pumpkins. But for the audience who doesn't know you professionally, can you tell us a little bit about who you are first and foremost?
Enrique Soler: Yes, absolutely. My name is Enrique Soler, as you can probably read, and I am currently the Head of Interior Design and Architecture at Wilmot Dixon Interiors. Wilmot Dixon Interiors is the fit out for the I'm a member of Wilma Dixon Group quite a big contractor in the UK and what my team does we have an in house Interior Design and Architecture team.
So Wilmot Dixon as a contractor, depending on the project we will use and depending on the type of contract, they will work with external architects or interior designers, or sometimes we will offer the full package at any time And any time of the project, so there might be projects where we receive from our clients, say RIBA [00:03:00] Stage 3 design, and we will take it from, or there are some projects where the customer will say I have this bunch of money.
I have this building. I want to make it happen. Help me. And we will help them from the beginning to develop their brief, use our expertise, and then we will go through all the stages. So that's what I do in a nutshell. I've been, you can probably tell from my accent, I am originally from Spain, but I've been here for 20 years.
And during these 20 years, I have worked always in, Variations of architecture. I started doing residential architecture for the first year. Then I did some retail design where I was actually doing some more interior design and architecture. Then I went back to proper architecture, but also in retail.
I was doing shopping centers all around the UK. And then I went back to retail interior design and that transformed into commercial interior design. And I started working a lot with [00:04:00] contractors. It was the natural step because I saw that gap in communication between designers and contractors to get in house to make sure that Orbition as designers gets built in the right way and as contractors all the queries can be So from the in house team without, communication breakdowns
Stephen Drew: very cool. So was it always the plan to move this direction or did it happen naturally when you had more and more exposure to the contractor?
Enrique Soler: it was completely natural. It just life took me there. So just not to bore you with my whole life, but basically when I made the move to Wilmot Dixon Interiors, actually, I was a director in an architectural interior design practice. So we were purely design, but we were doing a lot of projects with Wilmot Dixon Interiors because they're great contact to have and they had access.
To clients that we wouldn't even [00:05:00] dream of having those contacts like, we were a small practice in London Bridge and we realized that we were doing so much work together and we work together so well. And at some point I was invoicing Wilmot Dixon for the design services. I'm like, Looking at this and looking at the numbers and I was like, I am sure if I have a conversation with them and I tell them, look, this is the money that you're spending on design services and you're getting, this contractual terms that's what you're getting.
If you spend this extra amount of money, you get a whole team and you can have us in house. And obviously it wasn't a five minute conversation. We had several meetings and but the rest is history. It just worked. And since then we've been growing and the benefit from. For for them is obviously they have more control over the design and the benefit for us, we have access to projects and and clients that we wouldn't have otherwise.
Absolutely.
Stephen Drew: well. But I'm sure right now [00:06:00] that, so that happened organically, you saw the opportunity, you had the conversation, but I'm sure you still got many friends in architecture, or architects that go Enrique. How do I do it? How do I move across?
And would you have a bit of advice you have for people that maybe are not in that position to do what you did, but maybe they're a bit earlier in their career? Like, how do they get into main contracting?
Enrique Soler: It's a very good question, Steve. The first answer, especially if they're starting now and they're good at Revit, I'm recruiting. So just give me a shout.
Stephen Drew: there you go. Step number one. If they've missed this because they've missed the moment how else do they get into it, do you reckon?
Enrique Soler: Yeah, no, absolutely. First of all I think it's to have the awareness that this is a possibility. So as you very rightly say, I have. Most of my friends actually work in the traditional architectural field, and some of them even doing [00:07:00] competitions and the stuff that I was hoping that I would do for the rest of my life when I was in uni, so I was, like, thinking, just architectural practice I would imagine the Frank Lloyd Wright Update 21st century or something like that, doing competitions, which is the cool stuff when you finish uni.
But then when I, my particular experience was when you start in the marketplace and you start working more in the UK particularly there is this divide. of what happens in the design studio and what happens on site. Contractors have much more control of what happens on site, which in other countries is different.
But let's focus on the UK. When you realize that as a designer, you lose a bit of that control, and the contractor with the best of intentions, they might change things because it's more buildable, because they are more comfortable with certain details, it's better for that, and then there's this disconnect.[00:08:00]
So once I saw that, you can start actually approaching contractor and they will Architects really appreciate architects help in doing that because they do that to make sure that things are buildable, things are on budget, sometimes the value engineering is needed because it is what it is, we have to do it.
So the answer to that, like, how do you want to do it? There's a lot of contractors that are open to that, that they want that help. But what happens a lot is that architects end up working for contractors as design managers, that's a growing trend. A growing thing. There's more and more architects that go into design management, but in my experience, design manager is somewhat still a bit of an undefined role.
So some contractors have design managers that have very strong architectural background and they will be able to draw and correct a detail. And some other contractors will have architect design managers that are experts in, say, JCT contract, design and build contracts, and things like that. [00:09:00] Which is.
Another great area of expertise, but there is. It's like a big vague definition of what design management is, and depending on who you go to it will be more or less fulfilling if your passion is architecture. So I know cases of design managers who, architects who became design managers, and they are not really involved in the design aspect, it's more about contractual things, but they end up being happy for whatever reason.
So my advice would be, yes, there is more and more, don't be shy, talk to contractors, that's what I did, and there's more contractors that are really interested to hear what architects have to say.
Stephen Drew: Oh, fair enough. That's really useful. And to the person that dropped me an email, I'm I think Enrique has answered it in full. It was very interesting, though, at the start, you said about, maybe the skills involved, the responsibilities. Also, though, Enrique, the first word that came [00:10:00] out of your mouth was, I am looking for someone with Revit.
So it's that balance of tech with the design, isn't it? It's
Enrique Soler: absolutely. Yeah. Absolutely. And also, when you, I think when you're working for a contractor, you realize how construction details, which, they can be boring for some people. And I have first hand experience for me at some point in my life. They were a bit the most boring bit to do you want to do the creative bit and you want the renders, but if you want that render to become, that CGI render, to become a reality, your best chance is to be good at the technical design, because otherwise you will start seeing big access hatches on ceilings.
I hate those things. And or your style scene, lights that are not really mixing with your ceiling or, acoustic leakage. So they have to redo this thing again. So it really pays off to have a good technical background.
Stephen Drew: And that kind of actually leads us on to the next point that we wanted to discuss a bit, [00:11:00] which is working in interior design as an architect, because I've asked you initially, how do you do that? How do you, how do you go and work in the main contractor as an architect, but also you have architects that want to do more interior design and are trying to go in that way, but also.
I think some people don't realize that as an architect, you can do interior design and lend your skills there. So maybe do you want to expand upon that as well? So you're a qualified architect? Is
Enrique Soler: I am. Yeah, I am. I am Riva. Yeah,
Stephen Drew: So you've done your ARB, you've done all the technical stuff, like you said, begrudgingly or not, you mastered it, and then you've done interior design, which, You qualifications are well respected.
You don't have to have the qualifications in interior design. Is that correct?
Enrique Soler: that's correct. I don't have any extra qualifications in interior design. I only have my architectural degree.
Stephen Drew: I think you've done enough, by the way, and you've done you've done well. You've done the hard bit, but so how was that initially [00:12:00] then? So maybe we can just jump a little bit to that when you first moved into that.
Enrique Soler: So yeah, I, again, also life took me there. So when I was I was working in residential and in residential, I was fully in control. This was new houses in in North London. But then I saw an opportunity to work for a company where they were, it was, more dynamic, the pay was better.
And once I joined, I realized this is just interior design and I'm like Are you guys okay with me doing this? And they were like yeah, you tick the boxes. You can, this is ancient times, back when the dinosaurs, so I was using AutoCAD then. So you can use AutoCAD, you can do a bit of 3D Max, so yeah, that's what we need.
You know how things are built, yeah. And I realized, so I was in a team of interior designers, and I wanted to make sure that I wasn't stepping on any toes. I was like I'll collaborate with you. But they were like, no let's do it. Just do this. So when I was looking at design, I noticed that my approach was more than I thought, it was [00:13:00] complementary of the other interior designers.
So interior designers will approach a space looking at, probably the final result, like things like the impact, look and feel, a lot of the materials in terms of how they have an impact on the user. Whereas, I saw that all of that was done, so I'm like Okay where are your electric, your plug sockets?
Are they 300 mil from the floor? Are you doing all of that? It complemented very well. So then I realized that there was an opportunity for someone with an architectural and more technical background to offer a slightly different point of view. So obviously, I learned a lot and I can hopefully have this is a conversation about interior design, but because my background is different, I think that gives me a bit of a, hopefully a fresh perspective, if nothing else.
And obviously I'm not unique, there's a lot of architects who end up [00:14:00] working in interior design and there's a lot of they're very compatible worlds. I just happened to discover something that It made me feel that I could keep learning. For me, it's important to keep learning as a designer and also to be able to add a fresh perspective.
Like now, 20 years later, I still learn and I can still add things. When we compete for projects in well motivated interiors, that's usually one of the angles that I tackle when I'm going to interviews or presenting my team. We will cover that gap between architecture and interior design. Sometimes, you really need to You know, a mood board that will inspire your client and that will be what sells the project.
But sometimes that mood board also needs to get a gutter detail properly sorted because otherwise you will have a leak. And nobody wants a perfect mood board with a leak. So I can try and combine those things.
Stephen Drew: no very cool. Once I won't say their name, but there, there's a nice thing to say, but just in [00:15:00] case I won't say their name. An ex director of Perkinson will said that often the strongest person on their team doing interior design was the architect. Not always, but why I labor. The point is, I think any architects who are watching this in particular have a passion for it.
Then it's nice to know, as you say, that there is something there that, you know, and it's worked well for you.
Enrique Soler: Absolutely. Yeah.
Stephen Drew: yeah,
Enrique Soler: I, in fact, I have friends in, in, in Perkins and Will, and I completely understand what you're saying because they do tackle the interior design well very well, but obviously they look at the whole building, like the, their new headquarters in Chancellor Lane.
Amazing building. Spectacular. And I've been inside and what they've done is very good, but they, they look at it from every angle. That's what I really so they, it's great to be there. The feeling is great, but their sustainability credentials, the way they build it it's amazing.
It's a great building.
Stephen Drew: yeah, [00:16:00] no really cool. And so while we were, so we're mainly at the moment talking about those shifts in terms of things that you do. However, one of the points that we talked about earlier that you felt passionate about, and I also agree with, is that sometimes an architect in their career can be like I need to specialize in this.
I need to specialize in that. I've got one or two examples I'll mention at the end, but before I talk about it, the dangers of excessive specialization in our, for architects, because we have to be careful because you're talking about these specializations you've done in interior design, how that's worked for you, but what have you seen excessive specialization that's gone negatively for the architect involved?
Enrique Soler: Yeah, for me, when I refer to specialization and the dangers, I specifically think about sector. And I am sure that you have examples because of the wealth of knowledge you have from what you've been doing in the past few years. But especially I noticed this [00:17:00] When I was transitioning, when I was changing jobs, especially at the beginning some jobs, like there, there will be this natural hurdles.
You start and they want someone with more experience, or, you, you have a good CGI, but they want more technical, or you have more technical and they want more CGI, but then that is normal. That, that, that's fine. But then what I started noticing when I was, after a few years here, I was applying for jobs and they were saying like, Okay, but do you have enough, say, commercial experience, or retail experience, or residential experience?
And I come from the school of a good space is a good space. And architects, it's a bloody hard degree. So you learn a lot about the quality of space. So the difference between spaces is how we use them. And so as a user, I use residential, I use commercial, I use retail. So why what I know is the technical bits of how to make that design work better.
I obviously acknowledge that there's certain [00:18:00] things like, if you're designing a hospital, there will be a certain Extra element of technical design, or if you do certain, I work in things where they need a higher level of security, I've done banks for many years, you can learn in a few weeks, like that shouldn't be a reason not to accept someone, so I have this policy, so when I interview people or I get people For me, the good, the what I look in candidates is that they can think about spaces, they can design good spaces then they can use Revit.
'cause you have to, and they understand how things are built and they're not shy about, I don't care about a data looking pretty. We go back to the competitions. I used to do a lot of competitions when I started the competition. Sometimes you show some. Construction details, but you want it to look pretty because you're in selling mode.
The reality is you need that detail to be understood by the people who are going to build it. [00:19:00] You don't know who these people are, so it has to be completely. Easy to read by absolutely anyone. So I think all of this is connected because what we want to create as architects, what I'm passionate about, the profession of architecture, and I really love what I do, is we create spaces.
We create cool spaces. When you travel as an architect, And whether you go and visit the latest, um, the Olympic Village, whatever if you see a nice stadium or if you're looking at the, an Emius, the Emius van der Rohe is one of my favorites you know the museum, design museum in Berlin, or, a Franklin Bright House, those things, have completely different functions, but the architecture is fantastic. So what happened in the market, in the job market, is that there is a lot of asking for specialization, and I feel that I think we're missing [00:20:00] a bit of a trick. I can tell you, as a manager of a design team, I am happy to, in fact, I know that my team will get better. If we get someone who has been doing airport lounges, because there's a lot in commercial workspaces that we can learn from airport lounges.
That's my two cents about specializations.
Stephen Drew: no, it may, it makes sense. And it's interesting you mentioned that healthcare, because that's the one where I've really seen it's very hard to move people out of it, especially if they've done it for 10 to 20 years. And one quick example, very quick one to, to labor your point. I had a friend that been accidentally been working on TFL schemes for 10 years, right?
He was the expert in that, however, very hard for him to get a job anywhere else, and he's a great guy. In the end, he took a pay cut, and worked in a very small residential company, and learned the ropes. He took a
Enrique Soler: Yeah.
Stephen Drew: Not so much a step back, but it was an anti [00:21:00] climax from the TFL. Salaries and stuff, but he was like, and he learned and he said that it was one of the best things he did because they were totally different scales.
Now he's gone back to TFL, but for that
Enrique Soler: Haha, there you go. There you go, yeah.
Stephen Drew: but if it all goes wrong at TFL, then you've got all those years of residential to fall back on rather than that. So
Enrique Soler: Exactly.
Stephen Drew: I really agree with your point now maybe what we can do now, because we've got a few minutes, what would be really cool, is to see some of the beautiful projects that you've done, but also You know, get a little bit of perspective and all that stuff of what went behind the scenes and all the cool stuff that you're allowed to talk about.
Now I'll bring it up really quickly. Your website.
Enrique Soler: you for that, Steve.
Stephen Drew: Yeah, no, of course. So it's www. willmarkdixoninteriors. co. uk Will is W I L, and Mott
Enrique Soler: you.
Stephen Drew: O T T. I say just for the audio people, and if you're on audio, then [00:22:00] you should check out the video on YouTube, but we'll have a look at it as well. Because what I like here is we've got the good design, but we have to remember when we're going through this, you do the interiors, but this is the main contractor, isn't it?
This is, that is a slightly different take, so we have to keep that in mind when we're going through this. And we've got the projects here, okay, and they're all on the website. But I am biased because you did say that you've done a project in Cardiff, so that will be the first one we'll talk about as a fellow Welshman.
Maybe if you're happy with it, to just go through the project for a minute or two, would that be cool?
Enrique Soler: Oh yeah. Absolutely. So there's many interesting things about this project. And again, if you go to, to the website, you probably can see a few images. That image that you're showing there is the reception space. So it was just parts of the building that we were doing. So we were doing the reception space and one, a large corridor that we called I think it was called The Media Corridor.
It was a place where [00:23:00] we put some media screens and it was to celebrate that particular company. And we did the canteen as well the refurbishment area. And yeah, that's the canteen actually, that, that photo there. So it was a fantastic project to work with because, obviously because it's Cardiff but as well the building hadn't been touched.
in a long time. So there was a big appetite to do something different. So as you can see on that photo over there, like we were, we're trying to get inspired by the building. So that photo over there, you can see the column. We stripped the column back to the original structure, which was like a reinforced concrete, not ready to be shown.
So very grainy. And we said, Now we'll show it. We really like this. So we put actually a metal structure around it with some LED lighting implants, because we wanted to show how proud we were of the environment. And this was particularly interesting as well, because the construction was done during COVID.
All the design was [00:24:00] done in 2019, I want to say, and I think at the beginning of 2020, we started on site and obviously COVID hit the lockdown, but construction could continue. So it took a long time, but that's a benefit for the designers because we could have a bit more control over the quality of what was being built.
So very happy that behind the reception, you can see. See that slatted timber wall, which has a hidden wall. And there's so many things I could talk about this project for hours, but by all means, go check it out. If you're in Cardiff, give me a call. I'll tell you where it is.
Stephen Drew: Very cool. Yeah, exactly. A little, people can check it out on the website and if you pass them by Cardiff, there you go. The next one that I think you were keen about was Haven and South Downs College, which is Waterloo campus. Is that the right one or have I got the
Enrique Soler: I was thinking of a different one, but yeah, we did, that was a very small project that we did for the the T Levels, they were doing that section, [00:25:00] because one thing that one thing that universities do we work with a lot with universities, is they have very short periods in the summer, like right now, where they can do the improvement and the refurbishment, sometimes they, they can do a bit in winter as well, so it was a very small project but we Needed to upgrade some areas to use the university.
Um, this was the, their logo for the T levels and a few a bit of the branding. But it had to be done like literally now in a couple of weeks and with the rest of the university open. So we're very proud of that. So the images might not be as flashy, but there was a lot of. Coordination and maintaining all the technical details as
Stephen Drew: That's a reality, isn't it? You work with as well. This is an important project for the community and you turn it around, but sorry, Enrique, this is the problem. This is what I would have been like if I was still a part two architectural assistant on your team. I'm always clicking on the wrong projects and stuff.
You'll
Enrique Soler: No, it's fine. We it's a project that we designed, so that's absolutely [00:26:00] fine.
Stephen Drew: do you know what? While we were there, I'm just going to show, because I realized the button in the corner for all
Enrique Soler: Ah, there you go.
Stephen Drew: we'll quickly browse around Wales, but It is a really nice project. I know you've talked about it, so I'm just going to
Enrique Soler: I'm very happy the way it turned out. And yeah,
Stephen Drew: your columns there, look how good it looks.
So there you
Enrique Soler: column is there. Yeah.
Stephen Drew: once I learned I had to bring it back to do it justice. So it is really beautiful project.
Enrique Soler: I appreciate it. Thank you very
Stephen Drew: Yeah, no, no problem. Now, I think this is the next one we were going to talk about.
Enrique Soler: that's it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. This
Stephen Drew: this is the correct one. I got there in the end. You're like, never let him, this is what happens when you give me control of the mouse, unfortunately.
But I'll bring up this project now if you want to talk about it.
Enrique Soler: absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. So this is actually, this is the fourth project that we do for Department of Health. Department of Health, they have this big building in Leeds. Some Leeds locals will [00:27:00] have heard of a building called Quarry House. It's a massive building near the bus station and you can't miss it.
And it was built in the 90s with, where the design, let's say that in the 90s, yeah, the design principles were different. Not a lot of people in Lithuania Love this building. So we had an opportunity of transform the interiors for some of the floors because the existing interiors, people were in the department of health, they were not happy with them.
And we had just done for the department of health, their main offices in Victoria street here in London. And that was a very successful project. And because they were happy with that, they said, look, we have this building in Leeds. Can we do something with a similar concept? But, adapting to this building.
And we loved that. Because it wasn't exactly a repetition. We were just using some of the motifs that we used in London. And adapting them to this building. This is a very big building with very heavy [00:28:00] structure. The things that we did here is obviously we used a lot of Light Colors, but also we raised the ceiling.
Again, you need a lot of technical expertise for that because there's a lot of coordination and class detection with the MEP design team to make sure that everything was as compact as possible. We managed to raise the ceiling 200 mil, which, for that, that total height is quite a lot.
So you get a lot more. Light inside the place. So again, it's an office, but it's just a transformation of what it was before. So I couldn't be more proud of the projects we did there in Leeds.
Stephen Drew: Yeah, very cool. It's interesting though, because just raising it up makes such a difference. And I like the fact that you deal with existing projects as well as new. That's what I was going to ask you. Do you find that a lot, especially with main contracted, do you think that your experience lends really well to, Renovations, oh retrofits and that kind of stuff.
Are you seeing that there's more of an emphasis on that than New Build? Or are you open [00:29:00] minded to each project?
Enrique Soler: I am definitely open minded, but there is a lot of work there now, and especially when we're talking, because, people, especially clients, are more and more aware of sustainability principles, so actually a friend of mine who works for Arup, the structural engineers, they have architects as well, but they're mainly structural engineers, they have created it.
This section within Arup that is specialized in retrofit and reusing, because you can't just keep demolishing buildings and building them again. It's really not a sustainable practice and we have very beautiful buildings. Ideally, you will create something that is so flexible that you can keep redesigning and adapt with minimal intervention.
But in the meantime, until we get there, this is what we're doing. We do a lot of Getting the existing envelope, trying to respond to that with a new design, and hopefully the result will be something completely new that looks modern, but at the same time, has some respect. As [00:30:00] an architect, I really try to put emphasis on respecting your environment.
And when you're doing a fit, your environment is the building. There's no such thing as a Completely, 0% completely ugly building. There's always something that you can look, you have to just keep looking and you can emphasize the right thing. So that column that I was showing you earlier in Cardiff, or in this case just raising the ceiling, it just transform the space.
So it is also makes it exciting because, it is not just a blank page. You are, the challenge as a designer is to. Okay, how can I make this existing look pretty? And that's where our expertise lies.
Stephen Drew: yeah, no, I'm very cool. I'm glad. I think that's important, isn't it? Especially when you've got all these older buildings which are ready for to be retrofitted. Now, the last but certainly not least project that we thought we'd talk about a bit. is in Brent. So if
Enrique Soler: It's in brands,
Stephen Drew: by [00:31:00] Brent Council again, we have another project.
So I think you're working on this now. Do you want to run us through this project and where you're at with it and what you're looking at?
Enrique Soler: absolutely. So we left this for last because this is being built as the moment as
Stephen Drew: Oh
Enrique Soler: so yeah the main designer for my team for this project Lee, and she was on site today. She was sending me photos and it's looking really cool. So again, if you go to Wembley for a match or or a concert, just just go next door is the Brent Council.
Obviously it's open to the public because it's a council. So fantastic building, actually, the building is really beautiful. But they hadn't, again, they hadn't really done anything for, I think, around a good 20, 20 odd years. And they, their needs have changed in this in this period.
So there were a few things that we were changing. So all of these things that you're seeing, we did a lot of a lot of New Acoustic Solutions, because the building has a lot of exposed [00:32:00] concrete and glass, which is great as an architect, I used to have Tadao Ando posters on my wall when I was in uni, but the reality is that if you're going to work there, you need some acoustic absorption.
And we have a new staircase. So that's a mixture of architectural design, coordination with the structure, but we actually made a feature of that staircase and we put a beautiful joinery piece that is showcasing bits of the council as well, that you see that curve over there. So that is really cool because it's a triple height.
And we are putting in the middle of that sort of drum, we are putting actually meeting rooms and they're like self contained units. So we wanted them to look like sort of Lego pieces. So it's show, respond to the architecture of the building with, New bits of architecture, and I think that looks quite cool.
So yeah, very proud of this one. It's gonna be finished in a few months. I don't want to, I don't want to say the exact finish date because I work for a [00:33:00] contractor so I, if I don't have it exactly right in front of me I, if I make a mistake, but yeah, I think definitely in a few months we'll be finished.
They're doing a great job on site. The customer is amazing. They're really excited about this. So check watch this space. It's going to be a great one.
Stephen Drew: Excellent. As we say in Watch This Space, I've appeared to go blank in the square. My goodness. I had a new camera, look at me, I'm I'm not there. So it sounds like the spotlight's on you now. You're like, Oh my
Enrique Soler: It looks like
Stephen Drew: the ominous voice. But,
Enrique Soler: you're like the voice of God.
Stephen Drew: What you don't see here is I'm trying to get the camera working, but maybe we're going to wind down anyways.
What I was going to say is, at this point, I'd normally like to say, do you have a question for me at all that you'd like me to answer? Yeah,
Enrique Soler: Let's, because I've been obviously, following what you've been doing, Steve for quite a while now, obviously we know each other from LinkedIn, but I have to say. What you have done since the COVID [00:34:00] years, because correct me if I'm wrong, that's where it all started, isn't it, Architecture Social.
And I think it's such a great, it's one of these ideas that I think is great because once it's there, like a lot of us think like, Why wasn't why wasn't there anything like this before? Because it's it's a natural, it's a natural space for architects and designers to have some sort of interaction and forum.
And I follow your page on Instagram as well. And you do case studies and things like that, which is really cool. So my question would be, since you've been doing all of this, You have through the podcast and through the forum, when it was a forum and all of that, you more than anyone else will have exposure to a lot of super interesting, diverse, different people from all sorts of all sorts of stories in the architectural world.
So my question would be like is that something that you feel like, can you do something with that? I'm sure you can even write a book about architecture in the UK or whatever.[00:35:00]
Stephen Drew: yeah, it's a really good question. Wow, I didn't expect you to say that, because I constantly am looking at it, because The social originally started as a forum in the pandemic. Yeah, and that was really cool. And there was like a time and a place. There's a part of me that really misses it because for that time in the pandemic, it was bouncing, right?
And I thought initially it would just be for students and and initially I did genuinely set it up. to keep myself preoccupied just because I was on furlough so I was like I have to start drinking wine early I need something to do so I need to do a forum and I've got this like thing and I'm sure you have it in some way because you set up this business and all that I have to have something with when I don't have a certain sense of purpose I don't know what to do so that initially where it came from and that was really cool The forum never really recovered from the second lockdown.
There's a few changes, but the website went [00:36:00] up and the podcast went up and that in one way was a success, however and it led to the business. And so it's really cool that we're now self profitable, we're bringing revenue, but,
Enrique Soler: It's amazing.
Stephen Drew: Yeah, and I appreciate that, but I'm constantly thinking like why, what, and returning to the why, and I think that the why of the Architecture Social in terms of its purpose has shifted over the years, which is okay, but I would like to bring some of that initial playfulness back.
back. The interesting bit that I've learned about business is that you have to financially get it to stack up, otherwise it will die, because we have to survive. But then there's all the other cool stuff, which is like, What keeps you going? And and so I find myself getting pushed and pulled between both worlds.
And like an interesting example, one quick one on that, if you embellish me a little bit more. So the forum, even after it started dwindling in the, after the pandemic ended, it was like, hooray, we can go out! And no one wanted to go on [00:37:00] the forum, and I kept it going. It was like, hooray, we can go out!
And no one wanted to go on the forum, and I kept it going. for a year after and I changed the tack and I learned a few things to what to do and not to do, but no one really used it. And so I begrudgingly turned it off because sometimes then you have to make a decision of it's not using it. We have to move on.
And that was a tough lesson as well. So I don't know, but I think what would be cool down the line is. So we've got all this stuff online. It's really good that me and you are talking right now. And I like the informalness and I like the the podcast is the help there, but I probably think the next evolution in a few years time is actually to bring it in person.
So I think do it, having meetups, doing all this really cool stuff. Maybe there's learning from different companies, but also at one point we'll probably need a permanent office because you see us all knocking around in WeWork at the moment on the all access, passes. And that's quite interesting because you've got different ways of working [00:38:00] now, but who knows?
So I think, so the long answer to your question is, I'm not too sure. I guess we have to just keep seeing where it goes,
Enrique Soler: great. Yeah.
Stephen Drew: But then also I like, I think that as you know as well, so you've been involved in this business from the start. A business is a bit like a project. It You can look at it the same way, and there's things you learn, and in one way it never blooming ends, but it also is a really cool project, and that's the last thing I'd say that I think sometimes architects forget that you learn all these amazing skills, like what is a crit?
It's like a presentation, and often in business, All the stuff you're doing is like different versions. However, one thing that I notice is that sometimes I think architects think they're not good at it. They go, Oh, I can't do that. I'm not good at business. But actually, you just got to look at it a different way.
Do you have anything to add to that point around
Enrique Soler: I think you're absolutely right. I think one of your previous hosts and one of the podcasts he was mentioning that [00:39:00] maybe, it's something that they don't teach in university, how to get out and get business and stuff. It's, I have to say about teaching is probably a good idea, but still hard.
There is, there is a natural, like people, some people are Comfortable talking to other. I can see that you have that. I definitely can't talk for hours, as you can see. And there's some people who are more shy and prefer, just to concentrate. And I think that in any case, whatever you do to start a business or to grow a business and stuff, to keep talking and to keep learning from other.
Architects then that's why this podcast and this social idea, I think it's so brilliant because there is a lot from, my experience or your experience or that, I wish I had known a few years ago. And, now it's out there and we can keep talking. And as you say, the next step maybe is we do a social or maybe, the next Clark and Will design week or workplace design show or [00:40:00] protocol, whatever you say, Hey, I'm going and I'm going to be in this area because of the magnitude of your social platform.
There will be a bunch of us there and we have a beer and you don't know what's going to happen there.
Stephen Drew: I like
Enrique Soler: Because, that's how a lot of business gets started or a lot of business grows. Yeah,
Stephen Drew: I like
Enrique Soler: it's a great thing. Yeah
Stephen Drew: that's very kind of you. I got a new camera, which keeps turning itself off, but this is the point. The show goes on. The show goes on. I don't know why camera are you turning off? But anyways, I think that's one of the fun things I've learned, is that you've got to keep going. It
Enrique Soler: We do. Exactly. Yeah,
Stephen Drew: it's it seems though, Enrique, that my camera, Is now finally giving up.
So on that note, I might end the show in a second, but before we go, can you tell everyone where they can find you first and foremost online, how can they reach out and find all the cool stuff you do and get in
Enrique Soler: for anything professional. I try to be quite active [00:41:00] on LinkedIn. So on LinkedIn, you can see you will probably see this. You're seeing this because it's live stream and when I do a publication or anything interesting I'm on there. So just type my name on LinkedIn and for anything you would want to learn more about my projects, either give me a shout out or go to wilmotdixoninteriors.
co. uk. But yeah that's me.
Stephen Drew: Excellent. Thank you so much. And thank you for putting that with me in the last minute when the camera is going. But
Enrique Soler: Not at all.
Stephen Drew: The show goes on the show goes on. I've got it
Enrique Soler: And you're back. Perfect to say goodbye.
Stephen Drew: That's it. And on that note, I'm going to say goodbye before the camera. You stay there camera, stop turning off, but thank you so much.
Do check out all of Enrique's cool projects, get in touch with Wilmot Dixon Interiors. And on that note, we're going to end the live stream. Thank you so much for being here. I
Enrique Soler: you very much. Thank you, Steve.
Stephen Drew: I'm going to end the live stream now. But again, more content coming soon, but there you go. Main contracting, doing [00:42:00] interior design, and also with an architect's background.
So there you go. Thank you so much, Enrique. Have a good evening. Take care. Bye.