Here, we ask designers to take a selfie and give us an inside look at their life.
Age: 35
Occupation: Furniture and interior designer.
Instagram: @fredrigbystudio
Hometown: Blansford, Dorset, UK.
Studio location: Stoke Newington, Hackney, London.
Describe what you make: Our team is fortunate enough to work on an array of projects, preferring to work across scales—from complete interiors to sculptural yet functional furniture. Whether designing a private residence or a bespoke furnishing, our aim is to bring fine furniture craftsmanship into everyday spaces.
We currently have two exclusive furniture collections—the Signature collection and the newly launched Everyday Collection. All of our furnishings are designed in our London studio, using locally sourced materials, made to order and hand-assembled and finished by our studio team.
The most important thing you’ve designed to date: We’ve designed interiors for a variety of projects including Villa Lena in Tuscany, Francis Gallery in Bath, Michelin-starred Ellory and Leroy restaurants, multiple London retail destinations, and private residences. I couldn’t pick a favorite! They were each a great challenge with their own set of parameters and briefs.
Through designing interiors, we’ve learned to consider the use of space, which has helped to inform our approach to furniture design and how these pieces serve as aesthetic and functional objects within them. With this in mind, and a slower pace in London due to lockdowns, I had the opportunity to sketch and think about the importance of functional and modular designs to meet the needs of everyday living, which then resulted in our first full-furniture collection with the Everyday Collection.
Now that the new collection is live, I’m already thinking about how we can build upon it! The most important thing is always the next thing, the piece you’re yet to make. It’s such a journey of creation, one thing leads to the next, and once we’ve completed something, I’m always looking to the next.
Describe the problem your work solves: With our furniture, we want to add comfort and tactility to people’s homes as well as creating a conversational point through the concepts, materials, and form of the pieces.
Describe the project you are working on now: We’re currently working on fulfilling orders for the Everyday Collection and our Signature Collections, as well as a new showroom for the jewelry brand Alighieri, a new homeware store, and several new bespoke furniture pieces in the pipeline.
A new or forthcoming project we should know about: The debut of our furniture collection—the Everyday Collection—this month was really a milestone for our team. Unlike our Signature Collection where we release one-off pieces, this is the first time the studio has designed a full series of furnishings. The collection was inspired by the undulating landscapes of Dorset, where I grew up. With circular profile tables reflecting the rippling pools of raindrops; spacious soft seating made with a custom fabric in rich earth-like tones, and a solid oak dining series with curved lines that impart an inviting feeling, each piece is united by the natural symbolism of the great outdoors.
Designed to provide function, comfort and playfulness for your space, the collection uses a pure palette of oak, wool and steel to invite touch and bring a natural materiality to the home. Its modular quality was designed to appeal to the demands of everyday living, as customers are able to pair and configure pieces to suit the changing contexts and spaces. Brought to life in concert with the best local suppliers and manufacturers with unrivalled commitment to their craft, each piece is handmade in our London studio made using locally sourced materials which make for long-lasting furniture with timeless character.
What you absolutely must have in your studio: Endless cups of tea!
What you do when you’re not working: I love going to new exhibitions, or on adventures out of town (hopefully more when we’re finished with Covid).
Sources of creative envy: So many, currently Perriand, Noguchi, and Hepworth
The distraction you want to eliminate: Emails!
Concrete or marble? I’m always drawn toward natural materials, so it would have to be marble.
High-rise or townhouse? A Georgian townhouse please!
Remember or forget? It depends what you’re trying to remember or forget.
Aliens or ghosts? If there’s somethin’ strange in the neighborhood, who you gonna call?
Dark or light? Both, dawn and dusk.
