Studio / Zurich since 2009
Eighteen people, one long table.
Ferro was founded by Ilse Varga and Marco Bellini in a former foundry workshop. Today we are architects, interior designers and model makers, still working around one long table.
The studio, Werkhof 7
01/ How we started
A studio in an old foundry.
Ilse and Marco met on a building site, arguing about a concrete stair. They opened Ferro a year later in a cast iron workshop that still had its crane rails, and named the studio after the material that built the room.
The first commissions were kitchens and attic conversions. The first house followed in 2011, the first public building in 2016. We have grown slowly on purpose: every project still has a partner who draws, visits the site and answers the phone.
02/ What we hold on to
Three things we do not trade away.
01
Light before floor area
A smaller room with good daylight beats a larger dark one. We will argue for the window every time, even when it costs a few square metres.
02
Materials that age well
We choose concrete, timber, lime and stone that look better in twenty years than on opening day, and we leave them visible wherever we can.
03
A partner on every job
The partner you meet in the first conversation is the one at the site meetings and at handover. No hand-offs to people you have never met.
03/ People
The people at the table.
Partners and associates lead every project. Behind them are architects, interior designers and two model makers who keep the workshop running.
Ilse Varga
Founding partner
Ilse Varga
Founding partner
Ilse Varga
Founding partner
Ilse Varga
Founding partner
Ilse Varga
Founding partner
Ilse Varga
Founding partner
Join or visit
Come by for a coffee and a model.
Clients, students and future colleagues are welcome at the studio on weekdays. Let us know when you would like to come.