Sturgeon Lake Sauna

There are a lot of boxed sauna projects on the market. All good, we see and hear about them in every ad and on every corner in cottage country. But what about the cottage owners who brave it all, toss logic aside to design and build their own?! The ones who are led by the mystic and magical charm of a lakeside retreat to warm their toes and hearts. Who forge by hand, the rough-hewn boards and through creative energy put dream to paper and craft their one-of-a-kind architectural wonder! These are the cottage country pioneers bringing beauty and character to the Kawartha Lakes in Ontario!
It’s not often you can experience bespoke sauna design that is an expression of made-up creativity. And when you think of it, a sauna would be the ultimate way to explore the design possibilities for not only the structure itself but materials used. What’s really unique about our own personal sauna is that it was built from scratch utilizing recycled wood and other job site materials. Having these items piling up as leftovers, we were able to piece together a design, and using the ancient technique of shou sugi ban for the exterior boards, we created a sauna that blends into its surroundings and yet still manages to complement our cottage with its historical aesthetic. The charring process that takes place for sugi ban, seals the wood’s pores making it the ideal cladding for a sauna. The wood becomes harder, more weather and fire resistant. We thought this would best suit the climate and would withstand the winter lake weather that let’s say isn’t the highlight of living in the Kawarthas! The personal design touches that we worked in and around the sauna are also what we think make our project special. Knowing we built our own sauna from scratch is also part of the charm we think. As busy designers, art gallery owners and theatre founders, you wouldn’t think that building a sauna would be on our to do list. But that’s very Tim and I. Once we have an idea it’s hard to stop us from executing! We play to each other’s strengths which makes not just our personal projects work but also our design business.