Fettle Studio / About
fettle
noun
ˈfɛt(ə)l condition. Eg. To be in ‘fine fettle’
Lydia is a fully qualified Architect, ARB registered and a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects.
noun
ˈfɛt(ə)l condition. Eg. To be in ‘fine fettle’
verb
trim or clean the rough edges of a piece of pottery (or a metal casting) before firing.
trim or clean the rough edges of a piece of pottery (or a metal casting) before firing.
Lydia is a fully qualified Architect, ARB registered and a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects.
Architect Lydia Johnson established Fettle Studio in 2018 to pursue her two passions: architecture and ceramics. Her work has varied in scale, from homes, workspace and community projects, to tableware, lighting and public art commissions.
Lydia works closely with each of her clients, carefully listening to their brief, challenges and ambitions for the project. She uses her knowledge and understanding of good spatial design and construction from her years in practice, to create thoughtful, enjoyable, well crafted proposals, which bring delight and comfort to the people who use them.
Lydia has extensive experience in housing design, urban regeneration and refurbishments for community and arts uses. She spent her formative career at Stirling Prize winning practice, Mae Architects, followed by multi-award winning firm, Citizens Design Bureau, before going ‘full Fettle’ in 2021.
Lydia’s architectural education began in 2006 with her degree in Architecture and Planning at UWE Bristol, achieving First Class Honours. Following two years working on heritage and housing projects in Bath, she then moved to London for her Masters at the University of Westminster, where she received Distinction. Throughout her architectural education, Lydia undertook freelance commissions and managed small scale private projects alongside her time in practice, which set the foundations for starting her own business.
Beyond architecture and placemaking, Lydia’s interests and skills in design and making has extended to interiors and homewares, making ceramic tiles for kitchens and facades, as well as lampshades and tableware. Her ceramic work continues the journey she began as a student, using primarily slip-casting techniques with modular moulds to create functional and decorative wares, which play with form and geometry, and celebrate the tactile and sensual qualities of liquid clay. In 2019/20, she co-curated a major exhibition with the Building Centre, entitled Hand Held to Super Scale: Building with Ceramics, which featured her own work alongside other master makers and architects, including renowned artists Grayson Perry, Kate Malone and others.
Lydia has been a tutor and visiting lecturer for a number of architecture schools, including London Metropolitan University in 2017-18 where she taught Unit 5 with Mae Architects, the London School of Architecture, and The Bartlett, UCL, most recently as a BioID thesis tutor, guiding students as they research porous ceramics and bioreceptive facade materials.
Lydia’s approach at Fettle Studio is underpinned by imagination, practicality and materiality - designing for complex sites and challenging briefs, to creating personal solutions and tactile environments. For life at Fettle Studio, flexibility and balance is key - home and studio, work and play, design and making - celebrating big ideas and fostering small moments.
If you have a project you would like to discuss, please feel free to get in touch.
Lydia works closely with each of her clients, carefully listening to their brief, challenges and ambitions for the project. She uses her knowledge and understanding of good spatial design and construction from her years in practice, to create thoughtful, enjoyable, well crafted proposals, which bring delight and comfort to the people who use them.
Lydia has extensive experience in housing design, urban regeneration and refurbishments for community and arts uses. She spent her formative career at Stirling Prize winning practice, Mae Architects, followed by multi-award winning firm, Citizens Design Bureau, before going ‘full Fettle’ in 2021.
Lydia’s architectural education began in 2006 with her degree in Architecture and Planning at UWE Bristol, achieving First Class Honours. Following two years working on heritage and housing projects in Bath, she then moved to London for her Masters at the University of Westminster, where she received Distinction. Throughout her architectural education, Lydia undertook freelance commissions and managed small scale private projects alongside her time in practice, which set the foundations for starting her own business.
Beyond architecture and placemaking, Lydia’s interests and skills in design and making has extended to interiors and homewares, making ceramic tiles for kitchens and facades, as well as lampshades and tableware. Her ceramic work continues the journey she began as a student, using primarily slip-casting techniques with modular moulds to create functional and decorative wares, which play with form and geometry, and celebrate the tactile and sensual qualities of liquid clay. In 2019/20, she co-curated a major exhibition with the Building Centre, entitled Hand Held to Super Scale: Building with Ceramics, which featured her own work alongside other master makers and architects, including renowned artists Grayson Perry, Kate Malone and others.
Lydia has been a tutor and visiting lecturer for a number of architecture schools, including London Metropolitan University in 2017-18 where she taught Unit 5 with Mae Architects, the London School of Architecture, and The Bartlett, UCL, most recently as a BioID thesis tutor, guiding students as they research porous ceramics and bioreceptive facade materials.
Lydia’s approach at Fettle Studio is underpinned by imagination, practicality and materiality - designing for complex sites and challenging briefs, to creating personal solutions and tactile environments. For life at Fettle Studio, flexibility and balance is key - home and studio, work and play, design and making - celebrating big ideas and fostering small moments.
If you have a project you would like to discuss, please feel free to get in touch.