Enrique Soler

Enrique Soler is Head of Interior Design and Architecture at Willmott Dixon Interiors, the fit-out and refurbishment specialist within the Willmott Dixon Group. He leads the in-house interior design and architecture team, which takes projects from early briefing and concept design through technical design to delivery on site.

A qualified architect originally from Spain, Enrique has spent two decades working in the UK across residential architecture, retail design, shopping centres and commercial interior design. Working increasingly closely with contractors convinced him that designers embedded within a contractor can close the communication gap between the design studio and the site. Before joining Willmott Dixon Interiors he was a director at a London design practice that collaborated regularly with the contractor, and he brought his team in-house after making the commercial case for it.

Projects he has been involved with at Willmott Dixon Interiors include workplace refurbishments for the Department of Health and Social Care at Quarry House in Leeds, an office transformation in Cardiff where an original concrete column was stripped back and lit as a feature, a college upgrade delivered within a tight summer window, and a civic centre refurbishment for Brent Council with a new feature staircase and self-contained meeting room pods. He speaks openly about the value of technical skill in interior design, why architects transfer well into fit-out, and the career risks of over-specialising in a single sector.

Watch or listen to the full conversation in the Architecture Social CPD: Breaking the Mold: Enrique Soler's Transition from Architecture to Interior Design.