Wood shingles cloak this stilted sauna, which structure studio Oslo Works has elevated over the rocky shore of Nesodden peninsula, Norway, for the area people.
Named The Hotspot, the wood construction is a brief ferry trip from the Norwegian capital Oslo and is designed to be adaptable, environmentally acutely aware and low upkeep.
It’s the newest addition to the rising variety of communal saunas within the area, which Oslo Works stated are sometimes created by native communities coming collectively to finance and construct them.
“A sauna is greatest loved collectively,” stated the studio.
“This can be the explanation why sauna group tradition has been rising in Scandinavia the previous few years. Individuals are placing their forces collectively in an effort to finance, construct and share hothouse all alongside the shore.”
The Hotspot is split into two components by a slim open passage, which ends up in the water and the showering ladder. The principle scorching room sits to the left whereas altering and storage services are on the best.
Guests are inspired to take a plunge into the icy waters earlier than gathering within the scorching room, which is heated by a small woodburning range and has “breathtaking views” of Oslo’s skyline from its panoramic window.
Retaining deal with these views was prioritised all through the design, with Oslo Works growing a fabric palette that helps the construction to camouflage with its environment when seen from inland.
The principle room incorporates a rounded again wall coated in burnt and oiled pine shingles, enabling the cabin to mix in “among the many pine bushes and gray granite shore rocks”, the studio stated.
Wooden has additionally been used for the construction, with giant timber modules forming its body. This was chosen to assist minimise the embodied carbon of the venture.
A naturally dense insulation materials, the wooden additionally effectively shops the warmth contained in the cabin, whereas regulating the moisture generated from the sauna.
“The huge wooden parts retailer warmth very properly,” Oslo Works instructed Dezeen.
“They isolate it from the chilly with out the usage of insulation materials,” it continued. “Through the use of solely large wooden parts and burnt shingles, the cabin additionally wants little or no upkeep.”
The Hotspot’s modular construction enabled the sauna to be simply transported to and constructed on the difficult-to-access web site, the place it now sits raised on steel stilts.
Its modularity additionally ensures future flexibility, with potential variations together with the addition of a roof terrace, extra bathe rooms and the potential for being linked to different “Hotspots” in a row.
“We hope that [the community] and different shoppers will wish to use our design to arrange much more saunas sooner or later,” stated Oslo Works.
“The modular design is versatile and versatile for various wants and areas.”
The recognition of communal saunas in Scandinavia will be traced via the area’s wealthy bathing historical past. Not constrained to remoted pure landscapes, public saunas have been put in on the coronary heart of dense cities, together with in Tampere, Finland, the place Studio Puisto designed one as a “communal front room”.
In Sweden, Raumlabor’s corrugated metal public sauna overlooks Gothenburg’s Port, defying conventional timber sauna designs to suit into this industrial panorama.
The pictures is by Marte Garmann.
