About · Hidlay Architecture

One architect.
The whole process.

Will Hidlay works directly with clients from the first question through construction.

Each project remains a process of discovery, keeping the central ideas and the practical decisions in the same conversation.

Will's background combines professional architectural training with hands-on experience in electrical work, framing, and finish carpentry. That range shapes a studio interested not only in what a project looks like, but in how it is coordinated, built, and experienced over time.

Hidlay Architecture was founded in 2011 and is based in West Caldwell, New Jersey, serving residential and commercial clients across New Jersey and northeastern Pennsylvania.

The approach stays flexible around each client, project and place. Analog and digital tools along with site observations and emerging technologies form a comprehensive practice.

Process

Design, Develop & Deliver

One continuous line of responsibility connects the first conversation to the work in the field. Will leads each phase directly, keeping the client, architect, and builder in the same conversation.

Axonometric model showing an existing house in outline and the proposed addition in solid form — Design study · Existing and proposed

Design

Listen first. Existing conditions, site, program, code, budget, and daily routines are documented, then options are tested through drawings and models so tradeoffs become visible early.

Rotary laser level set within a steel-framed building to verify field layout and elevations — Field layout · Translating drawings into place

Develop

Develop the selected direction into coordinated drawings and decisions for approvals, pricing, and construction. Structure, systems, materials, and details are resolved as parts of one whole.

Close view of bolted structural-steel connections within a house under construction — Construction observation · Structure in progress

Deliver

Stay involved as construction unfolds—answering questions, reviewing materials and installations, and observing the work in the field so design intent can respond to real conditions.

Process in practice

A Process of Finding the Best Stone Pattern for this Project

Full-scale material studies help the client, architect, and craftsperson compare color, scale, and coursing together before the final work is installed.

Initial stone pattern study arranged to compare size, color, and coursing — Stone pattern study · 01

Stone samples laid out to refine coursing, scale, and color relationships — Stone pattern study · 02

Dry-stack ledgestone wall in cool gray tones, with a darker accent block left of center — Stone pattern study · 03

Credentials

Experience grounded in design and construction.

State registrations, architectural training, and field experience support a principal-led practice.

LicensureNJ · NY · PA

EducationB.Arch & M.Arch · Tulane University

CertificationLEED BD+C

Practice130+ projects · Since 2011

Ways of seeing

Technology is useful when it makes a decision clearer.

Established craft and newer tools work together. Building information modeling, 3D visualization, point-cloud scanning, drone exploration, and virtual walk-throughs are used as working instruments—not decoration added after design.

BIM-driven design and construction documents
3D visualization and virtual walk-throughs
Point-cloud and existing-condition capture
Drone site study and project documentation
Material and cost-informed development

Interior field observation during installation of a large glazed opening — Field observation · Glazing installation

One architect. The whole process.