The Architecture of Place: In Conversation with Clunie Fretton

The Architecture of Place: In Conversation with... is a series of interviews between design practitioners, scholars, and educators. The latest iteration of the series, from February 2026, features architects Robbie Kerr and Kate Chambers Beck and sculptor Clunie Fretton.

In this three-part series, each speaker alternately serves as interviewer and interviewee, discussing the influences, experiences, and projects that have shaped their approach to the architecture of place.

The Architecture of Place series is a collaboration between the ICAA, INTBAU, and The King's Foundation.

In this installment of the winter 2025-2026 Architecture of Place series, Kate Chambers Beck interviews Clunie Fretton.

Clunie Fretton is a classically trained sculptor, master carver, and gilder, who graduated from City & Guilds of London Art School in 2015 with a Distinction in Ornamental Woodcarving and Gilding. She served as the Carving Fellow for the year 2015-2016 before setting up her current practice with partner Felix Handley. She has been awarded the Journeyman and Master Carver Certificate under the Master Certificate scheme to recognize excellence in craftsmanship, the Taylor Pearce Drawing Prize for Carving & Conservation, the Anthony and Margaret Wood Marketing Bursary of the Society of Heraldic Arts, the Newby Trust Award at Cockpit Arts, and is a scholar of the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust.

Clunie is a master carver and member of the Master Carvers’ Association, the oldest association of carvers in the world. Clunie is conversant in both wood and stone carving, as well as a range of other materials including bronze, plaster, and synthetic casting materials. She is an experienced gilder, including oil gilding, water gilding & the restoration of antique gilt surfaces. She has a rigorous foundation in technical drawing and the production of sculptural forms, both figurative and ornamental. Her work in the restoration and conservation world as well as in the artistic one grant her sensitivity and understanding when working with Listed buildings and protected or antique objects, as well as in the creation of new artworks. Clunie contributes to the ongoing development of UK heritage skills through her teaching. Her work is in the Houses of Parliament, the Victoria & Albert Museum, St. George's Chapel Windsor, London livery companies, and museums, cathedrals and churches around the UK.

Presented as part of The Richard H. Driehaus Curricula for the Built Environment at the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art. The ICAA is very grateful to The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation for its generous support of this program.

Tags: architecture of place, recorded event, architecture of place in conversation with, world of classicism, sustainability