We've covered shed saunas before on Shedworking but I thought readers might be interested in one of my shed columns that appear in every issue of the Idler magazine (the latest edition features a nice piece on ice shanties). Here it is, from the back end of last year:
Shedlife is as subject to trends and fashion as any other part of society. 2008 was the year of the green roof. In 2009 it was micro pods (and then again a couple of years ago) and in 2018 ‘round’ was the shape to be seen in. Over the last 20 years we’ve seen the welcome rebirth of the shepherd’s hut, the greenhouse as a mixed-use space, and even an unexpected uptick in roofless garden offices in 2021. Now, the sauna shed is having its moment in the sun.
There’s certainly growing interest in saunas in general and back garden “wellness sanctuaries” in the UK. In May this year, the British Sauna Society organised its first Sauna Summit, bringing 250 delegates from all over the country and as far afield as the US, Norway and Finland. And at the start of the year English Heritage gave Grade II listed status to a purpose-built wooden sauna in Aylesford, Kent dating back to the 1948 London Olympics and donated by the Finnish Olympic team. Catherine Croft, Director of the Twentieth Century Society, commented: “More spartan than today’s pampering-led spa-based saunas, this modest prefabricated structure is evocative of Finnish national identity and hard sporting graft, a kind of performance enhancing shed!”
It’s easy to see why. On the most basic level, they’re simply a lot of fun, but there are numerous health benefits too, from claims to helping with relaxation and improved sleep, lowering stress and helping with depression, to a reduced risk of developing Alzheimer's, skin condition management and lower blood pressure and pain relief pluses (though do remember that there are some risks involved, especially if you have pre-existing health conditions).
Shepherd's hut specialists Plankbridge which is based near Dorchester has seen a major surge in customers interested in outdoor saunas, so earlier this year came with a 14ft design aimed at people with private gardens, as well as glamping and hospitality businesses. Features for the four person-sauna include a sustainable Scandinavian aspen lining sourced from Sweden, separate changing area, under-bench storage, and either wood-fired or electric, all with a hard-wearing corrugated-steel exterior cladding.
"The growth in the wellness-at-home market has definitely been reflected in the number of enquiries we’ve received at Plankbridge over the past year or so for saunas, hot tubs and treatment rooms," said Plankbridge founder Richard Lee. "And while we’ve designed various bespoke sauna huts for customers before, including one for a ski lodge in the French Alps and another which is now sitting beside a swimming pond in Herefordshire, this is the first time we have taken an existing Plankbridge hut model, the Snug, which is based on the proportions of the Victorian originals and the most traditional of all our shepherd’s huts, and used it for this very specific purpose."
Wildhut is one of the new sauna suppliers on the block. It was set up by British female entrepreneurs Thaisa Box and Lisa Deller in 2021, offering outdoor saunas handmade in West Sussex to order. Exterior cladding is natural FSC certified wood, with 100% sheep’s wool insulation, long letter box or large picture window, and options such as a mobile app for remote controlling the sauna. There are various models, the smallest coming in at just 2.2m wide x 2.5m high x 1.94m, rising to one sufficiently capacious for eight people.
The family-run Arctic Cabins (one of its sauna models is pictured top) has a much longer history, operating since 2001 when owner Gareth and his Finnish wife Virpi took the plunge and brought the traditional BBQ huts of her homeland to Blighty. In the same way that these huts provide a sanctuary from the winter elements, so do their Arctic Sauna Cabins models. Initially imported from Scandinavia, they’re now all built in Derbyshire. Their leading cabin seats five with a 3.7m x 3.9m spec, a genuine Finnish-made 6KW electric sauna heater, external porch area with cool-down seating, and the all-important integrated two-tier bench seating.
Arctic keep up a hectic schedule of appearing at dozens of regional and national home and garden shows throughout the year so you can easily have a chat with them, and they also have a show site in Nottingham.
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