Ian Hunter has always been creative.

A chef by trade, he used to enjoy cooking things up at the Sour Nook pub, between Penrith and Wigton, which he ran with wife Fiona.

However, it was a passion for design, specifically in fibreglass, which was the driving force behind the idea for Pennine Pods, the business he began four years ago.

The company uses a foam and fibreglass composite developed by Ian to make purpose built pods for private and commercial clients, as well as roofing and walling for different applications.

Ian developed the material while he was decking out his own motorhomes.

He says the difficulty of infusing fibreglass around foam is that it has to be heated as part of the process, meaning it either eats away at the foam or deforms it.

“I’ve developed the formula to stop it doing that,” he says.

“We get the foam, we get whatever shape we want in the foam and then we infuse fibreglass to the foam boards so we can create any shape that is required. I just experimented, but there is a technique to do it and this is where I have the patent for it.”

He soon realised he had created a material that had multiple benefits and uses for building structures of all types.

After leaving the pub trade, Ian rented premises in High Hesket, where he designs and builds the structures alongside two others, while Fiona works on the company’s sales and marketing.

“It doesn’t let water in and it doesn’t go mouldy, it’s very lightweight, but very, very strong and high in insulation, it’s very cool in summer and very warm in winter,” says Ian.

About two years ago the company worked with students from Lancaster University who analysed the material.

“They couldn’t believe it, they said you’ve got one of the highest heat retention panels in the UK,” says Ian.

While Pennine Pods designs and builds structures to order, the material itself has been trademarked as Multitherm - a trading name of Pennine Pods – and can be supplied in whatever shapes and designs required.

This includes using it as an efficient and cheap replacement for roofing.

Ian is also working with a company to create hydroponic wall gardens containing an irrigation system which allows plants to grow in offices and other premises while also helping purify the air.

One of the company’s most recent jobs has been creating a pod which is being used as an overspill classroom at Old Hutton C of E School, near Kendal.

“What they liked was that we could create a bespoke unit for them and something just a little bit different,” says Ian.

“We’ve got a heart shaped window in the door and a roof where you can put nesting boxes for birds.”

Inside of the pod, the children have decorated a wall with a landscape mural.

Other projects in the pipeline include creating floating pods for accommodation on a lake at a yoga retreat in East Anglia.

“We are going to build a workshop right next to the lake and build all the structures and float them out," says Ian.

“The possibilities are endless.”

This interview appeared in this month's edition of in-Cumbria magazine. Read the e-edition

here