Luxury interior design studio Goddard Littlefair is celebrating its 10 year anniversary, acknowledging their journey and how they have established themselves in the world of high-end residential, hospitality and wellness design.

Over the past decade, the studio has worked on a global portfolio of projects, including Mondrian Shoreditch, Gleneagles Hotel in Scotland, Mandarin Oriental Vienna in Austria and Villa Copenhagen in Denmark.

Since its launch, Goddard Littlefair has demonstrated their expertise in the residential, hospitality and wellness spaces, successfully working between these realms and capturing the unique history and culture within each project. Working internationally to deliver client aspirations using their wealth of knowledge and innate sense of style, they have built a personable, professional and creative company that celebrates diversity and individuality.

“In keeping the design process fresh, you need to be collaborative,” says Jo Littlefair, Co-Founder and Director. “The partnership started between myself and Martin Goddard is a bond that was ignited by a mutual understanding. We discovered we both spoke the same design language and that kind of connection is a very powerful one. We are both drawn naturally to different materiality, styles and colours and actually when you are able to learn from one and combine the two things together then the original idea blossoms into more than you have envisaged in the first instance.”

Jo Littlefair and Martin Goddard are driven by their love and passion for design, creating authentic designs, that reflect the culture and location. This endless creativity and curiosity is encouraged by their love of travel. They have been inspired by their experiences and the connections they have along the way, all of which has allowed them to evolve and gain new perspectives that go on to inform their designs. This has been proven particularly effective when it comes to approaching renowned projects or their restoration work, as the studio interweaves designs that honour the history, through a contemporary lens.

“Travel has been a lifelong passion, Martin and I are both inquisitive and enchanted by different parts of the world,” reveals Littlefair. “Hotels are the window that tend to frame a lot of our experiences of destinations. For us, it’s extremely important to ensure that hotels enhance and elevate an experience by both meeting the needs of a weary traveller and allowing them an avenue into the heart of the place. We are lucky enough to work across several sectors of interior design. Hotel design gives an element of escapism and scale that is addictive.”

The studio has worked on notable wellness projects, for hotels such as Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at Sultanahmet and Corinthia Palace Malta. When it comes to this sector, the studio creates serene spaces, with spas devoted to narrative and aesthetic. A considered and peaceful experience is achieved through attention to detail, such as commissioning custom made furnishings and carefully planning visitors pathways.

Littlefair reveals: “Over the last ten years we’ve seen the conversations around wellness change from talking about it as being an added bonus, time and budget permitting, and confined to a designated area of an overall space to now being an element which should be integrated into every part of an interior as much as possible…as designers of interior spaces, no longer simply confined to the spa, we need to articulate a response which delivers on not only an aesthetic level but beyond that creates an environment to alter moods and assist rejuvenation.”

Goddard Littlefair’s design ethos has always been to create thoughtful spaces with enduring designs. As a result, sustainability has always been very important to the studio and something they actively promote and encourage to the community and their consumers.

“In the world of luxury design – especially for hotels and restaurants – creating a timeless interior that can last for decades is one of the most efficient ways of bringing sustainability into a scheme,” says Martin Goddard. “It’s about integrating sustainable practices as much as possible.”

In 2020 Goddard Littlefair launched their second base in Porto, Portugal. The city is rich in heritage, culture and stories, and Jo and Martin have always held a deep connection and affinity for Portugal – over the years they have built up many contacts in the area, so it felt natural to set up a studio here.

Goddard Littlefair has become synonymous with tasteful, bespoke and timeless designs. The studio always respects the context and setting of each project, bringing their client’s visions to life and creating designs that sit naturally in their environment, all carried out with their attentive, responsive, practical and flexible attitude. The ultimate joy for Goddard Littlefair is seeing their client’s interact with and enjoy the spaces they design. As they emerge from their first decade the future for Goddard Littlefair is looking prosperous.