Andy Goodwin is director at hospitality interiors agency Fettle, whose clients include Locke Hotels, the Ciccetti restaurant in London’s Knightsbridge and The Hoxton in Rome.
Design
What would your monograph be called?
The Reality is… Hospitality design is so often about balance, tempering creativity in a commercial environment. Bringing conceptual, artistic practices to the built environment can be a tough gig so we often have to temper our design ambitions with budgets or feasibility of construction.
Doing this while ensuring that the end result remains as impressive as the idea that we sold to the client team is a challenge and requires compromise at times.
What recent design work made you a bit jealous?
At risk of providing a dated reference I’d have to say The Standard London. It is rare in our time that ambition, opportunity and execution come to a project in equal measure but when they do, the outcome is often fantastic.
In that sense, The Standard deserves the iconic status it has garnered.
What’s an unusual place you get inspiration from?
Being an East London studio, we are spoilt by historical buildings and green spaces on our doorstep. I try to take every lunch time outside to take it in, there’s no clichéd bolt of lightning eureka moments, but it provides an opportunity to reset.
Name something that is brilliantly designed but overlooked.
Velcro. Still not really sure myself how his works.
What object in your studio best sums up your taste?
A warm-yellow striped Murano mushroom lamp that sits on my desk. A playful classic. These are seen a lot at present, however co-founder Tom Parker and I have had vintage ones at home for many years, and we still think that they look great.
Andy Goodwin’s Murano mushroom lamp
Leadership
What feedback felt brutal at the time, but turned out to be useful?
A former boss once told me that I used too many words in a client meeting and this specific client would respond better to less information delivered more quickly.
Since then, I have always considered how best to present our schemes and ideas to clients, and often that is vastly different from one project to the next.
What’s an underappreciated skill that design leaders need?
Conviction. I find that it’s important to know when a scheme or solution works well and we can progress with the other elements of our work. Being indecisive is frustrating for both the team and our clients.
What keeps you up at night?
Filing emails.
What trait is non-negotiable in new hires?
Initiative. We have solid standards and working practices in the studio, so the team are clear on what work needs to be completed.
This is especially important given that we have two studios – London and Los Angeles – that on occasion work across the same project. The team however still need to show initiative constantly to maintain momentum on a project, challenge our decisions and to keep productive.
Complete this sentence, “I wish more clients…”
… trusted their own opinions. We find it easiest to work with clients who understand their own brand, speak with the same voice if part of a team, and have conviction through the review process.
It’s unusual for clients to love everything that we suggest, and being able to give both positive and negative feedback of schemes quickly allows us to work together to push the project to be the best it can be.
The projects that we feel are the most successful always happen with great working relationships with the client and this, for us, is best when it is direct and mutually respectful.