A deep-sea sphere, surfaced.
Wood-burning · rotates 360° · 5.0 on Google · WETT-certified installs
Focus · Dominique Imbert, 1978
“Inspired by the Bathysphere, a pioneering deep-sea submersible developed in 1929, this hanging fireplace reinterprets a universal spherical form in a strikingly modern design.”
A 700 mm steel orb hung from its flue, mouth cut open to the room — the deep-sea Bathysphere of 1929, reinterpreted in 3 mm plate.
The hearth rotates 360° — “direct warmth and comfort wherever you choose,” as the maker puts it. The whole sphere turns on its flue.
This is an open fire by design — the manual itself forbids fitting a door. A fire you hear and smell, behind nothing.
Photography: Focus
From the maker’s own book — the Bathyscafocus in rooms people actually live in. Tap a room to step inside.
Will it fit?
The maker’s numbers
These are the numbers we install to — every number above is Focus’s own published figure, nothing rounded by us, nothing guessed. Where the maker’s listing and manual differ, we print both. We’re an authorized Focus dealer — the maker’s own locator lists our Coldwater showroom. See the maker’s own Bathyscafocus page — brochure and manual on hand at the showroom.
The Focus family
The 1968 original — the fireplace the world knows Focus by.
See it → Wood, gas or electric · suspendedThe teardrop — fire within reach, only the original rivals it.
See it → Wood or gas · wall-mountedThe teardrop profile, flattened to the wall.
See it → Wood or gas · 360° glassThe seamless central — two sizes, 1600 and the Foster-commissioned 2000.
See it → Wood or gas · 360° glassThe glass ring you sit around — on wood, or gas with a remote.
See it →The 700 mm sphere — the deep-sea original, surfaced.
You’re hereThe Gyrofocus idea at 1100 mm — made for tighter rooms.
See it → Wood · wall-mountedThe 1972 sphere — the strongest heat of the wall units.
See it → Wood · 1400 mm wideThe industrial blade — waxed steel, a letterbox of fire.
See it →Real voices · 5.0 on Google
“…the knowledge and guidance we received in determining size, location and finishing design was invaluable.”
Phil M. · Google review
“As someone extremely particular and fussy I was very pleased.”
Josh R. · Google review
Quick answers
Fully open — and meant to be. The manual goes as far as forbidding a door on this appliance. That’s the Bathyscafocus’s whole character: crackle, warmth and wood-smoke ritual, behind nothing. It earns 38″ of clearance to walls and a non-combustible pad (Ø64″ in Canada if rotating) in return.
The manual’s floor-to-ceiling minimum is 8 ft; the listing’s 274 cm (9 ft) is the supplied flue package. Two truths, both quoted. At 700 mm across it’s the smallest suspended Focus, so it suits rooms the bigger saucers can’t.
A factory-built HT chimney — UL 103 in the US, ULC S629 in Canada — on a nominal 8″ natural-draft flue. Listing 203 mm, manual 205 mm: same 8″ system, quoted both on principle.
What it costs
Every wall is different — framing, venting, gas line — so your price is real, not a guess.
Two minutes online. Photos help; the booking machine takes them.
Dan prices your exact install and walks you through every line of it.
Nick’s crew frames it to the maker’s spec, runs the venting, and leaves the room clean.
Or come see it in our Coldwater showroom — the espresso will be on.
Beyond the sculptures
Rotating three-fire drums and guillotine built-ins — seven wood fires live on the walk today.
See the wood house → Gas · RetrofitNine ways to bring a dead masonry fireplace back to life — the insert row.
See the inserts → Gas · Built-inLinears and traditionals for brand-new walls — the built-in house.
See the built-ins →