Architecture that is needs-based rather than desire-driven. Architecture that touches the ground lightly, making the most of limited resources. Giving nature a say in the design process.
Purpose + mission
We’re on a search for forgotten and un-loved spaces, recording, researching, evaluating and re-purposing. Working with communities and socially-minded individuals and organisations to make innovative, sustainable, flexible and efficient buildings and spaces. We aim to work holistically, moving from the generalities - site, context, history, programme - to the detail.
We work collaboratively with makers, suppliers and enthusiasts. Most of our thinking is done outdoors, our inspiration comes in the hills and forests, and from the stories that people tell us. Our home is a re-purposed farm building in the hills of Mid-Wales, our work takes us around the UK, into Europe and Scandinavia.
Damon Webb
BA(Hons) DipArch PDD(Cons) ARB RIBA (CR)
Founder | Feral Studio
For me, the excitement in our work stems from being presented with a site or a building, a brief and a client, all of which are infinitely variable and conjuring something spectacular from these disparate elements. Every building or site comes with its own unique history - architectural, social and ecological.
We respect, conserve and celebrate this history, whilst adding a contemporary layer that responds to the practical demands of twenty-first century life. I’m particularly interested in applying traditional and craft building techniques and materials to modern buildings. A ‘less is more’ approach to design has always been fundamental to the way I work.
Projects
Garden Studio
A simple and sustainable garden cabin, a compact and efficient space for home-working and occasional sleeping.
The cabin sits on screw piles, touching the ground with a minimal impact. Self-built, timber-framed, with sheeps-wool insulation and up-cycled doors and windows. The cabin was built with minimal materials, time and cost, achieving the maximum for the least.
Nissen Hut
The Nissen Hut at Upper Waen was originally part of the Newtown prisoner of war camp. Since it moved to its current site it has been used as an animal shelter, tool shed and artists’ studio.
This low-key conversion respects the form of the existing structure, with minimal intervention to form a tiny kitchen and shower room. Self-built using timber and plywood, with no wet trades, to form an occasional living and workspace.
The Nissen Hut celebrates the beauty and practicality of corrugated metal, and of the wall-less form. We are currently researching the practicalities of the generic Nissen Hut as a viable, efficient and cost-effective form of space-making.
OPEN NEWTOWN
Residential projects
Pilgrm Hotel
Services
We can do as much or as little as you and your project need. We always start with an informal conversation, ideally on-site, covering aspirations and inspirations along with the more prosaic issues of budget, timescale and programme. These parameters become the anchor for the scheme, constantly referenced and tested through the design process. We like to work collaboratively with clients and makers, involving both throughout the design process.
We have developed an extensive set of partners - designers, illustrators, graphic designers, photographers, salvage experts, craftspeople and contractors - whose skills we can call upon. The scale and budgets of our projects vary, our level of input into projects varies too. We can offer services to cover the full range of the RIBA Plan of Work, plus interior and graphic design services, visualisation, conservation advice and sustainability consultancy.
