By Julia Gamolina

Linda Thiel, Partner and Architect at White Arkitekter, founded its London studio and advocates for high-quality, equitable public spaces as a basis for long-term sustainable solutions. She led one of London’s largest estate regeneration projects at the Gascoigne Estate, and Flickrum – Places for Girls, a co-design workshop empowering girls to engage with design processes. Linda also serves on design review panels for Ealing, Watford, and the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation.

JG: As we near the end of the year, what are some of the challenges that you've personally managed through in 2025? What are you looking forward to in 2026?

LT: A challenge I think many architects have experienced in 2025 is the market that is still relatively slow, due to general uncertainty in the world and the financial landscape. In both the UK and Sweden, updates to building regulations have had an impact on planning applications. Navigating a challenging market, meeting climate targets, and shifting towards circular economy requires a strategic mindset. You have to see the wider picture but also have a very detailed knowledge of the requirements in the construction industry.

We must change the way we do things quickly, but we are operating in an industry that generally moves slowly: going from initial design to completion takes several years. I hope 2026 will bring some stability. I’m looking forward to working on some highly sustainable projects, including projects featuring nature-based materials and circular economy solutions.

Now let's go back a little bit — tell me about why you studied architecture, and how you chose where you studied architecture.

Growing up in central Stockholm, I was always interested in buildings and why places in the city felt so different. My upbringing in Stockholm profoundly shaped the way I think about architecture. I’ve lived in apartments most of my life, which host a communal attitude, from chance interactions and being surrounded by your neighbors. This has informed my work on all levels, in different typologies and scales, as it is about how people meet and interact in these spaces and how this can support how we learn to respect each other.

I also grew up in a very political family; my mother worked with legislation on discrimination and disability, and my father with international aid. I now understand that my work in architecture is strongly based on this foundation. Having been inspired by a friend’s parents who were both architects, I applied to architecture school at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. I have no designers or architects in my family, so I think everyone was surprised when I applied to architecture school and got accepted.

What did you learn in studying there?

Our tutors would say to not make the tools limit your designs. When I started, there were no computers. We were working from larger “drawings rooms” with around forty students in each, working on hand drawings and models. The smell of blueprints was particularly strong when close to crits. By the time I finished my studies, I had completed my masters project as a combination of digital drawings, animations and physical models.

I also did an Erasmus exchange and studied at The Faculty of Architecture of the University of Porto, the same year it opened. I was starstruck with being around Álvaro Siza and Souto de Moura, and I was terrified of presenting to them at crits. It was an interesting experience as the projects were very form-focused, whereas at KTH, the projects tended to be more socially driven. Both aspects are especially important for an architect.

“Navigating a challenging market, meeting climate targets, and shifting towards circular economy requires a strategic mindset. You have to see the wider picture but also have a very detailed knowledge of the requirements in the construction industry.”

— Linda Thiel

Let’s talk a little about your experiences working for various offices before joining White Arkitekter. How did you get your start?

My first job was in Berlin. This was the mid-nineties and the only place in Europe where you could get a job in architecture. I worked in a small office, still drawing by hand with ink on film. I embraced every part of it, and I loved the methodical aspect of working on a big A1 drawing for a week. You had to be so careful not to scratch the paper with the razor blade — otherwise, the ink would bleed. There was a very different sound in the office compared to now!

During my time in Berlin, I got in touch with a German-Canadian film production and I was asked to do some set designs. We were based in Dessau at the Bauhaus school where we had a workshop. This experience really made me understand the scale, and perception of space. For example, once we found a fabulous location for a scene, but soon realised that with the whole team on site, we couldn’t fit in the space and had to relocate and rethink the process of filming. The aspect of wanting to create a feeling in a room for a movie scene is not very different from creating spaces in an urban setting.

What did you do next?

During my last year at university, I co-founded an architecture practice with Lukas Thiel. We worked on a range of projects with ten employees —hotels, residential, and office projects, exploring exteriors, interiors and furniture design. Working closely with clients and contractors was a steep learning curve and gave me a deeper understanding of quality, production, cost and viability.

We never said no, and we worked a lot, whilst raising a family. Running an office, several projects at a time and having a young family, you have to become very good at prioritizing and being strategic. I learnt to focus on what is meaningful and where you can make the most impact.

How did you eventually get to White Arkitekter?

After ten years, I wanted to move on to a bigger practice and I wanted to have senior colleagues with a wider experience than myself. I joined White Arkitekter in 2007. During the time I started at White, Lukas and I also designed our own house in Stockholm. We built it with our own money, sweat and tears, but also finished it with massive joy and satisfaction, considering that we pulled it off alongside two fulltime jobs and two small children. Two years of very little sleep and empty bank accounts is the recipe for that.

How did your role at White Arkitekter evolve? And how did you eventually get to London?

I worked on a large project as Senior Project Architect in my first year and then started to bring in my own projects after becoming a Director and, four years later, a Partner. For five years, I was a member of the Board of Directors, and during that time we were almost 1000 employees across fourteen offices in five countries — I had never worked for such a big practice before! The fact that the company is employee-owned brings and additional sense of meaning to the work, and a collective feeling of being in it together among the employees.

In early 2015, there were conversations about starting an office in London with the growth of the company. I was ready to do something different, and when I was trusted with the role of setting up the London branch with my colleague Geoff Denton, I said yes. My family and I moved within four months. Lukas and I had always said that with our profession we could work anywhere in the world, and London was an easy step as I already had family here.

What are you most focused on these days?

Ten years on, we are taking part in a similar journey in the UK that White has done over decades in Sweden, which involves building on a strong foundation in housing and urban design, in combination with healthcare. I’ve been working mainly on urban design and housing projects with a focus on communities. Through our work with “places for girls”, a co-design process with young girls, we have been able to work closely with communities and get a better foundation for our designs by allowing residents to have an impact on their places. I think this is a really important step to involve people in the process of architecture and construction, especially those that don’t always get a chance or insight otherwise.

We need to take a holistic approach to place that interrogates the social and financial elements, as well as the buildings themselves. Active community involvement in design fosters pride and ownership, while encouraging a sense of belonging for residents and a responsive identity for the development. As we have learned from our projects in Sweden and the UK, if we use a circular and social approach to design, the financial benefits follow. The potential to shape a great place lies in the combination of these factors.

“You need to spend lot of time with different people to understand who you are designing for. Don’t get stuck behind a desk.”

— Linda Thiel

Looking back at it all, what have been the biggest challenges in general? How did you both manage through perceived disappointments or setbacks?

The competition and tendering for projects is like going on a rollercoaster with all the highs and lows. Managing the ups and downs of winning or losing projects is mentally the hardest part for me. The classic “learning from your mistakes” is very true, and taking the time to review and give feedback is important. At the same time, having a strong drive forward and getting on with the next project helps. Some of my most successful wins have come just after big disappointments or losses. Putting all that frustration and what you have learned into a new proposal can be very successful.

Gascoigne Estate at the Greatfields School. Courtesy of White Arkitekter.

Who are you admiring now and why?

People who help other people.

What is the impact you’d like to have on the world? What is your core mission? And, what does success in that look like to you?

If the projects that I’ve been involved in can change people’s lives for the better, that would be a good testament to leave behind. To me, that is what success looks like, in the societal aspect to architecture.

Finally, what advice do you have for those starting their career? Would your advice be any different for women?

You need to spend lot of time with different people to understand who you are designing for. Don’t get stuck behind a desk. Although I strongly believe that what we do is important and has a great impact on people and communities, don’t kill yourself working too much. Giving yourself time to reflect makes you a better architect.

I’ve had the benefit of being able to work at the same time as bringing up my children, and I guess my very personal advice — and this is different for everyone — would be to stay engaged with your career regardless of how long time you take off when having children. Stay in touch with your workplace during your parental leave, get a babysitter, and try to go to industry events. I do appreciate I’m lucky to have brought up my kids in Sweden when they were small, where there is a good system with childcare and financial support. If you have the right support system around, you can run a business, or work in a practice, and manage kids and family.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Strategic Mindsets: White Arkitekter's Linda Thiel on Meaning, Impact, and the Societal Aspects of Architecture