Forest Sauna

The Forest Sauna is an award-winning public sauna built as a self-initiative project in the mountains of North-East Slovakia. The design is based on a Russian doll concept – layering spaces within spaces. The core is a traditional wood fired sauna, a dark and hot environment, wrapped around by a much lighter and cooler space with a timber frame and translucent polycarbonate cladding. The crystal-like object sits on an open timber platform placed within the wild near a spring that provides fresh water for the outdoor cooling tub which offers the temperature contrast for the sauna cycle. The sauna is free to use and open to everyone with a reservation made online. In 2020 the sauna won the public choice award at the CE.ZA.AR, an architectural award ceremony organized by the Slovak Chamber of Architects.