A sense of place
by Caitrina Cody
Jo Littlefair and Martin Goddard, co-founders and directors of Goddard Littlefair, a luxury interior design studio in London, sit down with ALHAUS magazine for a chat about their creative process.
For wife and husband team Jo Littlefair and Martin Goddard, their relationship is one of constant collaboration. With a portfolio that takes in historic properties in Scotland and luxury properties in Hong Kong, the year of the pandemic has not stifled the pair's ambitions — just motivated them to work a little bit differently.
They define the ethos of their interior design studio, founded in 2012, as a quest to constantly evolve. Striving to keep up-to-date with positive developments within society, they translate this into their designs — creating unique spaces that work within the context of the project location and for its people.
The Gleneagles Hotel Living Room, Estate Suite
ALHAUS magazine: Name a favourite recent project — and why it stands out for you.
Jo Littlefair: A recent favourite is The Mayfair Townhouse — opening this week! The project has been such an interesting and rewarding journey right from the concept through to completion. This luxury London hotel pays tribute to the rich history of its location but also looks to the future. Set in the Georgian buildings that line Half Moon Street — once the setting for Oscar Wilde’s famous play, The Importance of Being Earnest — the hotel has an extravagant and flamboyant residential feel, referencing the era inhabited by the dandy.
AM: Tell us about Epicurean, your new food and beverage-focused studio.
JL: We launched Epicurean because we recognised that bar and restaurant design should be specialised. We both love food, restaurants and eating out. F&B design should be instinctive and dynamic, so we’ve developed a team of passionate, like-minded individuals who live and breathe food, people and places. The Epicurean team has a lifestyle approach to design, creating venues that become an integral part of their destination.
AM: What have been the major challenges for the studio during lockdown?
MG: Virtual meetings have been necessary and useful, but nothing compares to human interaction in the studio. In design meetings, the tactile nature of materials cannot be translated as effectively on video, particularly in the concept phase of a project. Team creativity is always enhanced with face-to-face interaction. When it comes to clients and working with international teams, meeting in person is always a pleasure and key to building rapport.
AM: Have travel restrictions affected the way you work?
MG: Before the pandemic, we regularly travelled abroad for client meetings. We work a lot internationally (we recently started a project in Hong Kong) and we are currently working on multiple hospitality projects across Europe. We also have our second office in Porto, but the pandemic hasn’t only affected international travel — we have projects in other parts of the UK where at times we haven’t been able to do site visits because of national restrictions.
AM: What communication tools do you use to keep in touch with team members?
MG: When possible, we’ve set up socially-distanced design workshops with limited numbers of our design team in our London Studio. This has been really useful to encourage creativity and for the team to share new ideas.
AM: Can you tell us about the challenges posed by renovating historic properties, like, for example, Gleneagles in Scotland and the Hilton Imperial Dubrovnik?
MG: You have to ‘listen’ to historic buildings — they have passed through so many hands over time. It’s important to unlock the potential of the property by understanding its DNA. Throughout the years, these buildings have had various refurbishments or purposes so you may discover a new vista, hidden rooms or a staircase. Often the most important part is to be flexible and to adapt your design vision to the building masterplan. The Gleneagles was already a hotel when the project began, so the opportunity for this project was to redesign the interiors whilst celebrating its history; this is always a beautiful creative process.
AM: How important is sustainability to your work?
MG: It’s incredibly important that sustainability is not just something we talk about or aspire to, but an ethos we actually put into practice. There is so much that can be done, from the suppliers we work with to our in-house team — we like to think of sustainable design as second nature. When it comes to sourcing furniture, we need to understand not only the types of materials used but also their footprint and lifespan. We believe in investing in quality materials that stand the test of time so we don’t contribute to waste — the longer we can keep furniture and fittings without replacing them the better. We also make sure sustainable ideas in our designs are achievable and cost-effective, allowing the client to implement them.
AM: Goddard Littlefair has been praised for a sense of pragmatism that informs the studio's style. Is it hard to balance the practical with the aesthetic?
JL: It’s easy to design without limits and give in to pure indulgence. But as a designer, an important challenge is to meet the client brief. Interior design goes hand in hand with the practical — you need the constraints of a brief and a budget. In my opinion, this enhances creativity.
AM: How important is capturing a sense of place to your projects around the world?
JL: It’s hugely important. We both love travel and seeing new ways of life. We are naturally curious, inquisitive and detail orientated. When we design hotels, we want to pay respect to the local culture. We don’t believe in ‘cookie-cutter’ design; we do have a layered, residential aesthetic running through our all work but each property is completely unique.
AM: Do you think consumer demand for high-end luxury will grow in 2021 post-Covid, or will there be a more low-key emphasis?
JL: A bit of both — there will always be a place for luxury and a need for more economic options. What is clear is that there will be some post-pandemic insecurity when it comes to travel. The luxury hospitality industry will offer solutions to create safer environments for travellers. Larger public areas, spacious guest rooms and next-level service create trust. However, across all hotel types adjustments can be made such as simpler and cleaner designs, the decluttering of objects and the opening up of spaces.
AM: How do you stay inspired?
JL: The world around me keeps me inspired. People, places, books, magazines… I don’t have enough hours in the day! Life is too short and there is always something to capture my interest.
Hilton Vienna Park Hotel, Presidential Suite
AM: What is it like to be partners in life and in business?
JL: We have a lot of fun working together. We love to laugh! We take our work very seriously, but it’s important to enjoy work and see the lighter side. Humour breaks barriers and pushes boundaries.
AM: Favourite city?
JL: For both of us it has to be London. I can’t even begin to describe the passion I feel for this amazing city!
AM: Favourite restaurant?
JL: The Wolseley in London is an all-time favourite of ours, it’s so iconic and glamorous. In our local area of Farringdon, there are also some incredible restaurants that we return to time and time again such as Luca and The Quality Chop House.
AM: Ambitions for 2021 — personal and professional?
JL: We look forward to reconnecting with family and friends! It will be great to be able to travel again — we have various international projects at development and completion stage that we would like to visit, including Villa Copenhagen Hotel. As a company, we always hope to grow, do even better work and embark on exciting new projects.