Local fireplace designer to be key speaker at the London Fireplace Show
- Sept 2005

It is testimony to his growing reputation as one of the country’s leading-edge fireplace designers that up and coming young stonemason, Ian Knapper, who’s workshop is based at Mobberley near Cheadle, Staffordshire has been selected to take to the rostrum as part of the Speaker Programme planned for the inaugural London Fireplace Show.

Visitors to this brand new event are in for a rare treat as Ian shares a unique insight into the passion, creativity and drive that has steered him to his position today, where he heads up a team of five at his Staffordshire stonemason’s yard and his work is sought after by a growing list of clientele which includes rock stars and royalty. 

Ian got his first taste for the business at the age of 11 when he helped out on Saturdays sweeping up in a local stonemason’s yard for pocket money.  With an early enthusiasm for the business, he pursued arts related subjects at school and went on to train in Stonemasonry at the City of Bath College. 

Ian is no ordinary a stonemason.  He is also an artist and award-winning designer.  In the early days he was great demand for restoration work on prestigious National Trust and English Heritage projects throughout the UK, but as he explains “working on part of a building, restoring their work was a fantastic experience, but it doesn’t have the same deep down satisfaction of creating your own work.”

This is what drove Ian to establish his own business around eight years ago and then to a conscious decision to concentrate on designing bespoke fireplaces. His award-winning team of craftsmen share in his passion for creating fireplaces of beauty and distinction. 

Each piece that Ian produces is totally unique, from a fireplace with modern clean lines that might take a couple of days to create, through to Rococo masterpieces that may demand two months or more of their time.  Traditional stonemasonry techniques are employed to create even the most intricate patterns and all commissions are individually handcrafted in the finest natural stone to ensure a perfect result. 

Ian works with mainly English stone, from Portland Bill in the south, through Bath, Derbyshire and York stones and occasionally some Scottish stones too.  If he had to choose a favourite medium it would be Ancaster.  “It’s a lovely warm limestone from Lincolnshire, not too soft or hard, so you can get the detailing just right”, he explained.

It is the design element of his work that really fires Ian’s passion and he will be looking to stimulate the architects, designers, specifiers and retailers who are visiting the Show, by providing them with an insight into what inspires and influences his unique designs and what he sees as the future trend for stone fireplaces.

And while his words alone may be sufficient to stir the imagination of some visitors to the London Fireplace Show, Ian is convinced he will win over more of the audience with the specially commissioned piece of work that he has been asked to create by the organisers.

His exclusively created fireplace will be unique to the Show and prominently sited to give visitors a real taste for his talent and creativity.   And it promises not to disappoint, as anyone who has visited Ian’s stand at the House & Garden fair in recent years and seen his one-off Show specials will testify.  Pictured here is one such example.  This magnificent Rococo-inspired fireplace is a tour-de-force of Ian’s stonemasonry skill. Hours of delicately controlled, intricate carving resulted in a flamboyant piece for last year’s House & Garden Fair, Olympia.  A beautiful contrasting combination of natural Portland Stone and an unusual black fossil-filled limestone have been used to stunning effect.

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