Naples yellow tiled stove, with green looping ornaments (Scotland)
2008
The characteristic green hills of the Scottish west coast. Installed in a newly built house for a private client.
The construction contains two internal flues and retains the heat for approximately four hours after the fire has died down.
A similar stove is located outside Gothenburg.
(Written by the owner)
Fire is central to the life and culture of human beings and a house without a fire is a very sad place.
Built-up traditional stoves on the North European pattern were not found in old Scottish homes; instead we had big cast iron kitchen ranges used for heating water and cooking and open fires in any public rooms.
All of these were incredibly wasteful, burning huge quantities of coal and filling everywhere with smoke, as a result of which they were latterly banned in cities such as Glasgow.
Modern wood burning stoves are now becoming popular, especially in houses in the country, but these invariably have thin metal walls, big fireboxes and need constant stoking.
By contrast the Swedish kakelugn is a highly efficient device, full of fire bricks that enclose the fire and extract most of the heat before the exhaust reaches the chimney.
We learned about Swedish stoves during visits to friends in Stockholm and were impressed by their great economy and attractiveness.
When we stopped working fourteen years ago we decided to knock down our terrible little house and build a new one on the site, which is at the head of a Scottish sea loch.
Annika’s stove is a work of art, very organic with colours that reflect the lovely hillside behind it.
Annika’s visit to discuss the project was the first of three, the final one a great social event with our house full of new friends for a ceremonial first lighting in very hot weather just before midsummer.
The friendships made then have continued and the stove is a constant reminder of them.
