Suffice to say, there’s ample research attesting to the role saunas play in supporting everyday wellbeing. Yet not all saunas are created equal. Here, we step inside six saunas that prioritise deep restoration while playing to a home or hybrid space’s broader design intent.
The Workshop by Alexander &CO.
Gadigal Country / Sydney, Australia
The first permutation of Alexander &CO.’s explorations into the fluidity of live/work spaces was realised with the groundbreaking Alexander House. Taking this one step further is the new Workshop. Connected by a garden path, the two-storey heritage building creates a campus-like environment for client meetings, creative ideation and team training.
Adding to the sense of domesticity, The Workshop is replete with a sauna and ice bath—not your typical inclusion for the office. Principal Jeremy Bull, together with Communications Director Tess Glasson, pose a question through the organic mushrooming of these hybrid spaces—can the commercial experience be porous?
Photography by Anson Smart
Photography by PION Studio
S Park Apartment by Paradowski
Poznan, Poland
Giving preference to form over function, this cavernous Memphis and Postmodernist-inspired apartment designed by Paradowski Studio flips the script on modern family living. Conceived as an open sanctuary where texture and beige tones interplay to create subtle drama, the primary ensuite is anchored by a series of freestanding functional blocks, including an at-home sauna that transforms the eclectic space into one of ritual and restoration.
Stable House by Williams Burton Leopardi
Kaurna Country / Adelaide, South Australia
Not far from the city yet worlds away in look and feel, Stable House by Williams Burton Leopardi adopts an estate-like feel. While the existing building—the owner’s home—remained untouched, the architects built an independent entertaining pavilion with a kitchen, living zone, bathroom and Norwegian cedar sauna and spa accessible by a glazed arched doorway. And at the rear of the property is a stand-alone wellness pavilion with a gym and bathroom. Leopardi calls these new structures “calibrated insertions that bridge past, present and future.”
Photography by Caroline Cameron
Photography by Anson Smart
Designer Gillian Khaw’s Home
Gadigal Country / Sydney, Australia
Handelsmann + Khaw co-founder and interior designer Gillian Khaw’s harbourside home reveals a space that is both playful and classic, blurring the lines between design eras. The primary ensuite embodies this subtly experimental approach, with an integrated sauna—a distinctive feature of the original 1980s home—thoughtfully restored by Khaw to create personal moments of calm within the family apartment.
VR Residence by Nicolas Schuybroek
Bentveld, The Netherlands
With his hallmark contextual approach to his work, Belgian architect Nicolas Schuybroek focused on monochromatic interiors where materials such as clay plaster and sandblasted oak have been used for their qualities of capturing natural light in the most poetic way possible—particularly evident in the light-filled sauna. “Most if not all our projects revolve around the notion of tactility and sensory thrill created by carefully selected materials,” Schuybroek says.
Photography by Matthieu Salvaing
Photography by Einar Aslaksen
Oslo House by Paulsen & Nilsen
Oslo, Norway
In the ensuite of this four-storey Oslofjord home by Paulsen & Nilsen, a timber sauna offers a place to rejuvinate in the comfort of home. The sauna is crafted from natural European oak, primed for heat retention and durability, with the natural scent of oak satisfying all of the senses.
