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Lakeside Finnish Sauna
Lakeside Finnish Sauna
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Other Projects by ALA Architects
Lakeside Finnish Sauna
Previously there was an old lakeside sauna, which was brought to the site in the winter of 1951, pulled with a Citroën 15CV over the frozen lake. After decades of bathing, the old sauna had gotten to a rotting condition and was dismantled. The new version is a collage of oiled hardwood, white sailcloth, welded sheet steel, and black and white film faced plywood. It has echoes of the modern, stylized villa, which was built on the same site in 1953 and is still in use. The only closed space for this sauna is the actual steam room. The room, with a floor area of 7.5 m2, has a maximum capacity for eight persons to bath simultaneously. The dimensions of the room are optimized for a heat session - "löyly", as it is called in Finnish. Water is cast to the heated stones, creating a cloud of steam that encompasses the room. Designing an uncompromised sauna for an optimal "löyly" is like designing a concert hall with excellent acoustics, it encompasses both the physical and psychological attributes. Lots of things have to be taken into account; everything affects the final result. For a sauna, volume and proportions are the most essential for a successful steam room. The room has to have exactly the right height for the selected stove. Ventilation has to be carefully optimized – the right kind of heat circulation is crucial. The heat capacity and reflection properties, moisture absorption and deterioration through age are different for different surface materials and have to be taken into account. This sauna has a fairly large wood heated stove with 400 kg of stones. The lower level of the "laude" ( the sauna-bench) is at the same level as the top of the stove, to ensure that the heat circulates even on the level of the toes of a bather sitting on the upper "laude". The upper "laude" is 1,100 mm below the ceiling to just fit a seated tall man. The floor is open to ensure that fresh air flows between the planks. Three of the walls are black-tinted wood-veneer. They absorb heat and moist in a comfortable way. The ceiling, the floor and the back wall are clad with the same hardwood as the terrace and its ceiling. Between the heat sessions, you take dips into the lake, or whirl in the snow. The terrace is large, for undressing and drinking beer during the intervals. It is partially sheltered with adjustable sailcloth walls. Translucency of the canvas transforms the sauna to a shimmering light during the dark nights and softens the direct sun light during day time. The terrace is oriented toward the evening sun. The back wall protects the bathers from the gazes of the neighbors and frames the view to the lake. Finland has a vital, active vernacular tradition of lakeside-sauna architecture. In this case the sauna was paired with a modernistic 1950's villa. Both the material palette and the architecture are contemporary, but the sauna-experience is ancient.
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