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BUILDING: Craft & Construction — INTBAU 25: Progress in Tradition

Posted 23 Jul 2025

Introducing the ‘BUILDING: Craft & Construction’ panel discussion at the INTBAU World Congress 2025.

    Event Information

  • 22-24 October 2025
  • London, Chelsea Old Town Hall

From 22–24 October, explore a dynamic programme featuring keynote addresses, panel discussions and breakout sessions.

Each segment will be an opportunity to reflect on the past, embrace the present, and look boldly toward the future of tradition in the built environment.

Visit the Event’s main page for an overview of the full programme.

BUILDING: Craft & Construction panel discussion

Hear from practitioners and developers who have dedicated their lives to the craft skills and projects that make traditional architecture possible today. Focus will be on the aesthetic and the practical aspects of making buildings and places, from the fine detail of a stone carving to the on-site realities of volume housebuilding.

Carving of a piece of the Martin’s tower balustrade in Basel, Switzerland. Sandstone, work for the cathedral workshop: die Münsterbauhütte, 1999. Photo credit: Richard Thomas.

A view of Queen Mother Square under construction in Poundbury, a development by CG Fry & Son.

Clunie Fretton detailing the full-scale plaster model of Eagle Bronze. Photo credit: Clunie Fretton.

Max Rutgers. Photo credit: Traditional Building Cultures Foundation.

Stone carving sessions on Saturdays in Soignies, Belgium at le Pôle de la Pierre where Richard Thomas teaches for the AWAP. Photo credit: Richard Thomas.

A football pitch in Poundbury, an urban extension to Dorchester, in Dorset, England, developed by CG Fry & Son.

Recreation of Gibbons’ Cravat, by Clunie Fretton, in Collaboration with the Victoria and Albert Museum. Photo credit: Clunie Fretton.

Max Rutgers. Photo credit: Traditional Building Cultures Foundation

Speakers — BUILDING: Craft & Construction

Clunie Fretton

Clunie Fretton is a master carver, sculptor, and gilder whose work is held in the UK’s Houses of Parliament, St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, and the Victoria and Albert Museum. She specialises in conservation, restoration, and new commissions, contributing to the ongoing development heritage skills in the UK.

Philip Fry

Philip Fry is Managing Director of CG Fry & Son, a leading builder in South West England. Since 1993 he has worked on the Duchy of Cornwall’s Poundbury project, applying its principles to CG Fry’s award-winning developments and collaborations with legacy landowners.

Max Rutgers

Max Rutgers, recipient of the Diploma de Mestre Artesà (2020) and the Richard H. Driehaus Building Arts Awards in the carpentry category (2024), is a master framer whose work spans award-winning projects and heritage restorations. He also teaches traditional timber construction across Europe.

Richard Thomas

Richard Thomas is a master stone carver and sculptor with over 40 years of experience. Trained with the Compagnons du Devoir, he has worked on major conservation projects across Europe and currently teaches stone carving for the Wallonny Agency for Cultural Heritage in Belgium.

Back to the Event’s main page.

Purchase your tickets at an early bird rate.