A see-through stove for open-plan living

A tunnel stove is glazed on both faces, so the fire performs for two spaces at once and the room beyond stays visible through the flames. The Spartherm A8 takes that idea and adds an integral log store below, turning the whole appliance into a freestanding piece of architecture. In this Helmsley home it divides the space the way a wall never could: with light and fire instead of plaster.

The hearth is precision-cut Dekton, an ultra-compact engineered surface that takes heat without complaint and cuts to millimetre-perfect edges, exactly what a sculptural stove like this deserves to stand on.

Double-sided stoves concentrate everything an installer knows: clearances apply on both faces, sight lines matter from two directions, and the flue must rise cleanly from a stove that stands in open space rather than against a wall. The survey work, measuring, drawing, agreeing the exact position before anything is ordered, is where a job like this is really built.

As with every installation we complete, the system was commissioned, tested and HETAS-certificated, with Building Control notified. Specialist appliances get the same paperwork discipline as everyday ones.

Helmsley and the villages along the moors edge, Harome, Nawton, Kirkbymoorside, hold a remarkable number of homes with the space and confidence for a statement installation: converted farm buildings, extended cottages, contemporary builds in old stone shells. The same thinking behind this A8 applies to three-sided stoves, hanging stoves and built-in tunnel fireplaces, all of which we design and fit.

For the more classic Helmsley cottage room, our honest advice runs the other way: a compact stove sized to the room beats an oversized showpiece every time, and we will always say which your room is asking for.