From Belgian fashion inspirations to designing hidden gems into their interiors, we sit down with Pattern to understand the ins and outs of how this small but impactful studio is shaping spaces that are hard to forget.
Lily Goodwin and Josh Cain are the founders behind Pattern, a studio doing things decidedly different. We go back to the beginning to get a glimpse at the early days, and how the pair’s unconventional approach has led to a practice that continues to surprise in its adventurous, expressive design executions.
When did you establish Pattern Studio, and what was the impetus for going out on your own together?
Josh Cain: We started Pattern in 2015, but it really began as a quiet rebellion against over-structured studios. We wanted to test ideas without the weight of hierarchy—to build something lean, responsive and a bit unpredictable. It was less about chasing independence and more about curiosity: what happens if we just make things our way?
Lily Goodwin: We just started doing it without thinking too much about where it might take us. There was little to lose if it didn’t work out, so the possibility of failure didn’t seem like too big of a deal. We worked side by side on laptops in the sunroom of our apartment, and we would keep our alerts on for cheap airfares and just book things as they popped up. We were keen to try to create a working life that offered us freedom and spontaneity—a very mid-twenties ambition!
Pattern founders Josh Cain and Lily Goodwin
Daddy Cool by Pattern | Photography by Tom Ross
Daddy Cool by Pattern | Photography by Tom Ross
What is the driving philosophy of your studio?
Josh Cain: We approach each project on its own terms, shaped by the client’s personality, the brief, and the site’s physical and social context. Our aim is always clarity, craft and restraint. We try to design spaces that hold attention without demanding it—places that balance precision with a kind of relaxed, looseness. To us, the most memorable interiors feel ‘right’, as if they were always meant to be that way.
Lily Goodwin: To understand the role of the interior on the project. It’s one part of the experience, it should enhance or accentuate without dominating. It should be a pleasure to spend time in, be well-crafted and charming, balance elegance and playfulness—if that’s appropriate. We like to build in unexpected, somewhat hidden gems, which reward those who pay attention to their surroundings with little moments of surprise or delight. This is true whether the context is a family home, a hotel, a restaurant or bar, or a retail space.
Walk us through your process, what changes and what stays the same each time?
Josh Cain: Every project starts with listening and ends with editing. What changes is how deeply we refine the evolution of the big idea, sometimes that means exploring what doesn’t work to find what does. The constant is our habit of questioning every decision, at both the micro and macro level, and whether it strengthens or weakens the essence of that core idea.
Lily Goodwin: Probably the client—the designer relationship determines what changes the most each time. Some clients are very open brief, hands-off. They really let us take the ball and run. These projects mean we can spend our time refining and executing our ideas, rather than selling them. We’ve had clients who pretty much leave us to our own devices and turn up to site the day the build was complete—big kudos to giving us that much trust.
Daddy Cool by Pattern | Photography by Tom Ross
Daddy Cool by Pattern | Photography by Tom Ross
Daddy Cool by Pattern | Photography by Tom Ross
Which detail or material captures what you’re all about?
Josh Cain: How materials will work together is given as much consideration as the materials themselves. We try to be very intentional with the balance, often using contrast, letting some elements stay quiet so others can really sing.
Lily Goodwin: I hope more of a feeling than a specific, physical detail. If you feel drawn to a space, and you’re not really sure why at first, but you want to stay and spend time there, and remember it long after your visit—I hope that feeling becomes a signature of our studio.
Which materials are you frequently drawn to?
Josh Cain: Stone that’s textured and imperfect, timber that wears and shows signs of life, metal that patinas and communicates a sense of passing time. Natural materials just have honesty and a depth that we really gravitate toward.
Lily Goodwin: Materials made by the earth that blow your mind and make you think ‘how incredible is our planet!’ and that inspires you to take better care of our planet than we are taking.
Deiji Studios Paddington by Pattern | Photography by Cieran Murphy
Deiji Studios Paddington by Pattern | Photography by Cieran Murphy
What’s a pragmatic change most homeowners can adopt that has outsized impact?
Josh Cain: Lighting and proportion have as much influence on the quality of a space as the furnishings and artworks contained within it. When space and light are carefully balanced, the other elements can fall more effortlessly into place. Above all, design for how you want to live—don’t feel pressure to follow accepted conventions unless they really resonate with you.
Lily Goodwin: Leave the overhead lighting off and live by lamp light! Pare back your furniture and furnishings, really edit them quite ruthlessly, and re-introduce high-quality pieces that have character and soul that you love living alongside. Don’t try to replicate something you’ve seen, do what works with your own space and speaks to you; this will give your home the authenticity that people pay designers to create. Don’t forget about plants!
How does place—climate, context, light, neighbourhood—shape your interiors?
Josh Cain: Our goal is always to create harmony with the site—its light, climate, orientation, and the social grain that surrounds it. We want spaces to feel deeply connected to their context and to quietly celebrate it.
Lily Goodwin: Site is one of our greatest considerations. Our response to it will vary—we might be trying to increase the connection between site and interior, or creating a really interesting dialogue, maybe a contrast or some sense of juxtaposition. Whatever the case may be, it is central to our thinking about a project.
What do your best clients do that elevates the outcome?
Josh Cain: The best results come from genuine, balanced collaboration with our clients. Respect for the rhythm of design always delivers the strongest outcomes. When there’s clarity around the project’s core aspiration, we’re better equipped to guide decisions and recognise when things start to drift from that goal.
Lily Goodwin: Understand where to compromise, balance your budget carefully. Elevating one area usually means you can really pare back another. There is almost always a compromise, but value engineering across every element sort of defeats the purpose.
Deiji Studios Paddington by Pattern | Photography by Cieran Murphy
Deiji Studios Paddington by Pattern | Photography by Cieran Murphy
How early do art, objects and colour shape your work?
Josh Cain: We often use art as a way of thinking—about proportion, tension, and composition. When it comes to art and objects, we try not to let them feel decorative or performative. They should sit naturally within the space, as considered elements that complete not compete with the overall composition rather than just adorn it.
Lily Goodwin: Very early, but not necessarily in the sense that we think ‘We must use this lamp! Or buy this sculpture!’ More that we would consider the work of an artist and the ideas behind those works, and we might find inspiration in those ideas and be responding with our design work in some way.
Deiji Studios Paddington by Pattern | Photography by Cieran Murphy
Whose work (inside or outside design) has shaped your practice, and how?
Josh Cain: I’ve always been drawn to the quiet precision of Japanese architects like SANAA and Sou Fujimoto. Closer to home, designers like George Livissianis and Anthony Gill share that same sense of clarity and restraint that feels honest. I also take cues from outside design—suburban canteens, music, film, even comedy. Anything with rhythm, timing, or tension can teach you something about how people move through and feel in a space. And there is no better teacher than nature.
Lily Goodwin: Contemporary Belgian fashion designers, funnily enough, left a lasting impression on my design sensibility from a young age. The likes of Dries van Noten, Martin Margiela, and Raf Simons were influential. Despite existing in a different creative field (fashion, as opposed to architecture) their work helped open my eyes to the power of exceptionally crafted forms, unexpected silhouettes, and unconventional textures. Their work felt progressive and inventive but also timeless. Fashion in some ways is like miniature architecture. You can create these really exquisite forms but you’re free from having to worry about difficult builders or limiting statutory regulations.
On the other hand, I also adore otherworldly works from artists and architects; the likes of Antoni Gaudi, Antti Lovag, Hilma af klint. Life really is so bizarre and magical, and their works really capture this. You have to wonder—would the world not be a better place if more of us were living seaside in bubble palaces?
What would you like to be known for in 20 years?
Josh Cain: Hopefully for work that endures—not just physically, but conceptually. If our projects still feel considered decades from now, that’s success. I’m happy for Pattern to be quietly relevant in hindsight as opposed to being ultra fashionable in the moment.
Lily Goodwin: It would be cool to be known as a studio who were sort of outliers, not really fitting neatly into any one category. Being an outlier can be advantageous as it leaves room for unexpected twists and turns to be taken. It’s a wilder ride.
yolo by Pattern | Photography by Tom Ross
yolo by Pattern | Photography by Tom Ross
"We like to build in unexpected, somewhat hidden gems, which reward those who pay attention to their surroundings with little moments of surprise or delight."
– Lily Goodwin, Principal at Pattern
yolo by Pattern | Photography by Tom Ross
yolo by Pattern | Photography by Tom Ross