Born in Dublin, Ferdia trained at Central Saint Martin’s College of Art and Design in London. Recent work includes: Anything But Love (Belltable Arts Centre, Limerick), The Home Place (An Grianan, Letterkenny/Lyric, Belfast), Lay Me Down Softly (Abbey, Best Set Design nomination, Irish Theatre Awards 2008) and Macbecks (Olympia, Dublin). He was nominated for Best Design at the Theatre Management Association (UK) Awards 2007 for Dancing at Lughnasa (Lyric, Belfast) and, more recently, was made an Honorary Scenographer by OISTAT (International Organisation of Scenographers, Theatre Architects and Technicians).
In 2008, he designed The Shawshank Redemption for Lane Productions, which transferred to the West End.
Other stage designs include: The Burial at Thebes, The Recruiting Officer, The School for Scandal, True West, Henry IV Part I, Ensuite and A Quiet Life (Abbey), Don Gregorio (Wexford Festival Opera), Blown (Theatre Royal, Plymouth), Knots (CoisCéim), Amadeus, Making History (Ouroboros), Sweeney Todd (Bridewell), True West, The Blind Fiddler (Lyric, Belfast), Shooting Gallery, Blasted (Bedrock), Dinner with Friends (Gúna Nua/Lane Productions), Macbeth, Tales from Ovid, Richard III, Mutabilitie (Theatreworks), Magick Macabre (Riverdream Productions), Passades (Operating Theatre), The Chance, Dealer’s Choice (Prime Cut), In the Dark Air of a Closed Room (Loose Canon), Playing from the Heart, Rudolf the Red (The Ark), Devotion, Bumbógs and Bees (TEAM), Top Girls, Dolly West’s Kitchen, Interludes, The Triumph of Love, The Dispute, Camino Royale (Samuel Beckett Centre) and Alternative Miss Ireland VI-IX (Olympia).
Recently, Ferdia designed Verdi’s Macbeth for Opera Ireland (2009).
Films and TV design includes the feature film Porcelain (with Aidan Turner) and television pilot Radio Garda (Purple TV).