Vent in open fireplace

[onlymechris]

Any help with this one folks would be really appreciated.....

My old fireplace had been previously bricked-up and an air-brick put in place. Anyway, I decided to knock through to create an open fireplace inlet, which I plan to plaster-board up (side, back and top) and make a feature of. The question I have is:

I obviously need to keep an air-flow from the chimney to avoid damp occurring but would it be suffice to plaster-board the top of the fireplace and drill some holes in the plasterboard to allow air flow? I know it sounds a bit heath-robinson but it would avoid having to fit an air vent on the plasterboard at the top of my fireplace inlet.

Any help would be most appreciated.

cheers,

Chris

 

[Space cat]

A vent facing up the chimney will deposit a steady stream of dirt into your new feature. A vent facing forwards remains clear while dirt piles up in the dead space behind and below it.