Hedgehog Architects, led by Lindsey Wislocki, are based in Southend on Sea, Essex. Lindsey was originally with Sheppard Robson in London, working on Grosvenor HQ office, and Astra Zeneca HQ before moving to Aukett for a sabbatical. She then set up Aukett Polska, a subsidiary office in Warsaw, Poland. The Polish clients tended to be very interesting multi-national companies and after six enjoyable years, she returned to the UK and set up Hedgehog Architects, a small practice focusing on residential business in Southend.
The practice is home to Lindsey Wislocki, Director; Florencia Gozalvez, Architectural Designer; Jana Seznam, Architectural Designer; John Coll, Technologist; Jasmina Haxhiaj, Architectural Part II Student; and Alice Gough, Administration Assistant.
Lindsey also runs a development company that builds new houses and apartments, the design work of which all happens within the practice. Hedgehog Architects has now completed over 30 new build dwellings.
The practice undertakes mainly residential work, including rear extensions, loft conversions and new build houses in Essex and likes to encourage their clients to be bold and to try something a little more interesting than the standard extensions. Many of Hedgehogs clients, come from design backgrounds which makes for an interesting collaboration.
RIBA East spoke to Lindsey to find out more about the practice, their aspirations, and inspirations.
What’s the most exciting project you’ve worked on in the recent past, and why?
It has to be the redevelopment of an old redundant post office and sorting office that had been closed for a number of years. Hedgehog sought planning for five residential houses on the plot which was very narrow front to back, so we were able to add courtyards to the rear and roof gardens, some of which were lucky enough to have sea views.
Unlike standard new builds, we were able to increase the internal floor to ceiling heights to 3m to create space, and crittall-style windows really add to the interest.
Externally, a recognition was taken from the surrounding yellow stock brick and this was mixed with a dark grey contrasting modern brick.
The project was a success, and all houses were published in a number of magazines and sold quite quickly, so the client was very happy!
Where do you look for inspiration?
I love international travel, I have been fortunate enough to visit 42 countries, many with a view to looking at architectural projects for World Architecture - a publication in which my ex-husband wrote for many years. I feel strongly that visiting other countries, being around different cultures and seeing different technologies and the use of materials helps you to design better places.
Since Hedgehog is largely a residential practice, we always make a point of visiting the London Open House exhibition and enjoy looking at our competitor’s work.
What is the biggest challenge you’ve overcome during your career?
There have been so many challenges, in fact, most projects have one challenge or another to overcome. The one which comes to mind as the biggest challenge was a development in Benfleet, Essex back in 2010. This project was within a local council’s flood zone map, therefore at the time, the council were not keen on any residential development at ground floor level. We really enjoyed the challenge of trying to work with this. We appointed a London company to run a study on our specific site - the results of which proved that the site was not in the local council’s flood zone as previously thought. We were able to successfully build nine apartments on the site.
Where do you see the industry, and your practice in 10 years’ time?
In 10 years’ time… I think I will be retired! But in reality, I’ll probably still be designing and building houses. I would like to experiment with prefabricated buildings and sip panels a bit more - I think the traditional builds will be phased out in the future. I would like our practice to be recognised for innovation in design.
What is your advice for future generations of architects?
I think the architects coming through training at the moment should consider learning 3D CAD and modelling skills to help clients understand the proposals in a more tactile way. This would make a big difference.
I’m sure that sustainability will be at the forefront for future generations along with the inclusion of more prefabricated building elements. The UK seems to be a long way behind many other countries in this regard.
What do you think smaller architecture practices need the most support with and does this differ from larger, more established practices?
This is a very interesting question, especially since I have worked in both larger practices with 200 staff and now a small office.
The small and emerging practices group set up by RIBA East has been a great source of communication via monthly virtual meetings and I’m a member of the very active Facebook group where questions are posted and answered the same day – this kind of support is invaluable to smaller practices.
It is great to be able to be open with other architects who are not working in the same town as you, therefore there is no threat, and you simply are able to share resources, hints and tips which benefits all of us. It’s sometimes really useful to be able to bounce thoughts and ideas around with other architects who are also leading practices.
To find out more about Hedgehog Architects, visit their website or follow them on Instagram, Twitter or LinkedIn.
