Red Iron Design

THE ART OF IRON

Creating custom metallic decor

By Ellen Ashton-Haiste

Art takes many forms. At Red Iron Design, the artistry is expressed in custom ironwork.

Partners Robert Bobinac and Katie Westervelt have been designing and crafting metalwork for homes and businesses for more than a decade, carving out a niche market across the region.

“We focus on things you can’t get anywhere else, detailed ornate ironwork that’s hard to find,” Westervelt says. “We’re known for doing things we’ve never done before. If someone can imagine it, we can figure out how to do it.”

Westervelt, a graduate of Fanshawe College’s interior design program, is the designer. She works with clients, fleshing out their ideas and offering options. Then she draws up a kind of blueprint, including measurements.

Bobinac, who grew up helping in his father’s welding shop and studied industrial design at Fanshawe, then fabricates the piece. He has also travelled extensively through Europe and Asia, absorbing cultures and architecture, and brings that expertise to his craft.

What sets Red Iron Design apart, the partners maintain, is the attention to design and customizing the end product to fulfill the client’s vision. “Our focus is very niche and design specific,” Westervelt says.

That applies to a vast assortment of projects. “We’ll do anything and everything,” Bobinac says.

Much of their work is exterior fencing and gates, along with landscape décor like arbors, trellises and garden sculptures. With that, they have developed a specialty in preserving the character of heritage homes and historic sites, such as London’s Eldon House.

But they also create indoor furnishings, from coffee tables, kitchen island bases and range hoods to sculptural wall art. Decorative elements, such as inserts of materials – copper, brass, and stained glass – are often used to enhance the projects.

In the commercial realm, they create specialty signage, privacy panels and furnishings such as restaurant tables, stools and benches.

With everything they do, the bottom line is quality, the partners say. “I’m really picky,” Bobinac asserts.

“He focuses on craftsmanship and takes pride in doing things to the highest standard,” Westervelt adds. “It’s a quality product in the end.” 

TOP Custom planters that pay homage to legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright complement screens on the porch that Red Iron Design also made. ABOVE Using intricate and unique design elements, the company provides lasting privacy with custom steel screens.