A sauna with all the new flavours

This year’s Finnish Holiday Housing Fair takes full advantage of seaside views

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By Heidi Kivimäki in Parainen
     
      Once the Finnish Holiday Housing Fair in Parainen ends, the inhabitants of Villa Merituuli will have plenty of options to choose from. If the four families that built the villa all want to go to the sauna at seven o’clock on Saturday night, that is not a problem.
      "The starting point was that everyone needs their own sauna", explains Sauli Maanpää, one of the owners of Villa Merituuli.
      The four-family villa, designed for holiday use all year round, sports a regular indoor sauna, a sauna by the shore, a sauna built like a vault in its own yard, and a so-called infra sauna that fits two people.
     
This last sauna, which operates with an infrared radiator, has an area of only slightly more than one square metre. Its temperature is at a constant 55 degrees Celsius, and one can stay in the sauna for a maximum of half an hour.
      Kari Nyholm, one of the inhabitants of Villa Merituuli, fell for the infra sauna during his trips to Estonia.
      "Going to the sauna this way is a completely different type of experience compared with a regular sauna. An infra sauna does not tire you out in the same way as a traditional sauna would. Also, it takes nearly half an hour for the sweat to properly break out", Nyholm says.
      The largest difference between an infra sauna and a regular one is that in an infra sauna, the body’s tissues heat up more deep down. Despite the low temperature, sauna-goers sweat considerably. The fans of this type of sauna believe that infrared heat helps decrease cellulite and remove cholesterol and nicotine.
     
To contrast the infra sauna, which is expected to be the hit item of the decade, there is a vault sauna in the yard that resembles an underground cellar.
      The sauna, which brings to mind a Hobbit’s home, can fit ten sauna-goers at a time. The sauna’s oven can be used in the regular fashion or also to create a so-called smoke sauna.
      The great advantage of this particular sauna is its fire safety. Jari Ruusunen, who represents Uusikaupunki-based builders Holvisaunat Oy, explains that in addition to the sauna oven, the porous stone mass of around ten tons heats up in a vault sauna.
     
"Surprisingly enough, the heat became much better when the wood panelling was removed from the sauna’s interior walls. The humidity and softness of the heat became much better. The steam is not able to condense into droplets onto the surfaces", Ruusunen points out.
      According to Ruusunen, it is possible to enjoy the warmth of a vault sauna for up to around twenty hours after it has been heated. One cubic metre of chopped wood is sufficient for heating the sauna around five times. The smoke sauna alternative can be prepared in two hours.
      In this case, heating the vault sauna is easier than in traditional smoke saunas. The wood is set under the oven from the washing room, allowing the sauna room itself to remain clean.
     
The seaside views that Parainen offers have been taken full advantage of at the holiday housing fair. The windows of many of the buildings open primarily to the sea. Sommarnöjets Villa, built by Kim and Susan Särs, goes even further: the seaside walls of both the cabin proper and the sauna are made entirely of glass. There is an unobstructed view outside from the benches of the sauna, as is the view from the terrace to the benches.
      "We wanted to be able to see something while we sit in the sauna. Then we also linger around in the sauna for a longer time. And because the washing area is traditionally in the same space as the sauna itself, light is significant", Kim Särs explains.
      The Särs lot boasts the only swimming hut among the cabins built for the fair. Its walls are also made of glass. Last summer, the booth served as the Särs family’s summer kitchen.
      "Even on late autumn evenings, it is not too cold by the shore thanks to the hut. Last year we were still here in October."
     
Eight of the fair’s 39 saunas have been built onto the same lot.
      The sauna block is a pilot project at the fair, with the aim of testing more tightly-spaced building than usual.
      One interesting solution can be found in cabin Kylykolo, designed by architect Rauno Ali-Kovero for his family.
      "The drawings were based on the local conditions. When I came here the first time, it was incredibly windy. I started to think about how I could enjoy the scenery even on windy days."
     
Ali-Kovero wound up designing a sauna cabin in two parts. The patio between the two sections is sheltered by glass. As much wood as possible was used to build the cabin, and Ali-Kovero’s aim was multifunctionality. The floor of the sauna room was raised by tens of centimetres, and instead of traditional benches, the sauna-goers sit in wooden easy chairs.
      "I tried to come up with a piece of furniture that is simple to make, but with many uses. The easy chairs fit five people, but if there are more people going to the sauna, the backs of the chairs can be lowered to make benches. Two easy chairs make a divan."
      Wood has also been used in the sinks and shower facilities of the washing room. Ali-Kovero designed them out of birch plywood. The sinks were made water-resistant with an epoxy lacquer.
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 17.6.2005

More on this subject:
 FACTFILE: The Finnish Holiday Housing Fair in Parainen

Links:
  The Finnish Holiday Housing Fair 2005

HEIDI KIVIMÄKI / Helsingin Sanomat
heidi.kivimaki@sanoma.fi