Sauna for a Bed & Breakfast in Sweden

This sauna, built entirely by Small Architecture Workshop, is the first of a series of interventions aimed at improving the range of services of a small Bed & Breakfast in Sweden. The hotel is located about three hours north of Stockholm, in the middle of the Swedish forest, far from the main tourist routes of the country.

The owners of the place, a Belgian couple who moved to Sweden a few years ago, have started to develop several projects aimed at offering customers services that are impossible to find elsewhere in the region. The decision to rely on a group of Italian architects, but with previous professional experience in Scandinavia, came from the desire of customers to reinterpret and reread, with a critical eye, a typical Nordic type of construction. A floating platform was suggested by the site itself, characterized by a steep slope to the lake and the presence of a dense birch forest that would have made it impossible to build near the water without invasive field operations. In this way, in addition to respecting the nature of the place, the sauna becomes a bridge between the land and the water.

In addition to the space for rest and contemplation, the floating platform also serves as a dock for canoes and small boats, replacing an old wooden pier installed in the same place. The main hall can accommodate up to eight people at a time, and is separated from the outside by an area used as a cloakroom and storage for firewood. The wall facing the lake is completely transparent to allow the contemplation of water and landscape in all weathers. While the interior finish is made of alder wood, traditionally used for interior saunas in Scandinavia, the exterior is inspired by the Japanese tradition. The vertical planks of fir wood were treated using an ancient Yakisugi technique of burning the surface and making it resistant to pests and weather. In addition to avoiding the use of polluting chemicals, this finish helps highlight the structure of the wood and, at the same time, the shade obtained helps to reduce the visual impact of the building. Even from a chromatic point of view, the new intervention becomes an interface element between the dark waters of the lake and the forest behind it. The sauna was built in just two weeks, thanks to the prefabrication of the supporting frames that form the structure.