Challenges in the community sauna environment

Sauna and sauna bathing is part of the Finnish way of life. There are sauna facilities in private houses, cottages, apartment buildings, hotels, swimming pools and spas. The sauna therefore has many uses. Often the requirements of the environment are not sufficiently taken into account when designing and building a sauna.

The family sauna is expected to create an atmosphere and personality through design and lighting. Compromises in the use of space are also possible (for example, the utility room can also serve as a dressing room). In a public sauna, space, ventilation and safety cannot be compromised. Overall, the space programme must work and be comfortable!

Until now, the design of sauna ceilings has not taken into account the specific requirements of the environment in which they are used. Public/community sauna benches must be easily dismantled, the frame constructed of stainless or acid-resistant steel and the frame must also be easily dismantled. The wooden parts of the board, i.e. the boards, must be easily removable and can be lifted by one person (in practice, the weight of one board must be less than 10 kg). The board supplier’s service must also cover the supply of parts so that the entire board does not have to be replaced because of a minor breakage (e.g. one broken board element).

Other important details are the construction of the safety rails on the heaters (in swimming pools, the resistance and the stones have to be changed frequently, the railing must not make the work difficult), the sturdiness of the stirrups and the correct step height (elderly and disabled customers) and hygiene. Sufficiently large gaps between the boards and hinged, vertically lifting laude elements make daily cleaning easier and quicker.

Most of the cost of a sauna (and especially the sauna benches) comes from maintenance. The maintenance costs, on the other hand, arise from repairs and cleaning. The length of the life cycle determines the total costs. Sun Sauna’s Swing Clean model has a proven longer lifespan and shorter daily cleaning time than a traditional design. The Viitasaari City Swimming Pool has twice the lifetime and half an hour less cleaning time compared to the previous model.

(Read this article by our CEO Raimo Huusko and consultant Tuula Suontamo in full in the electronic version of CityMark magazine, available here (pages 42-45 NOTE!): http://www.citymark.fi/lehti/cm/citymark-2-2014/)