A compact bathing retreat connects shelter, water, heat and a greenhouse within the Icelandic landscape.
Focus
Rest and regeneration
Approach
A six-stage bathing sequence
Program
Sauna, pool and greenhouse
Iceland Slow Sauna explores a compact retreat through a sequence of arrival, changing, showering, immersion, sauna and greenhouse. Each stage offers a different relationship between the body, enclosure and the surrounding landscape.
A continuous route connects intimate bathing spaces with a light-filled greenhouse. Timber, water, daylight and living plants give the sequence a changing atmosphere, from quiet withdrawal to a gradual return to the outside.
The retreat in the winter landscape.A sheltered space to change and slow down.A gradual transition from changing to bathing.Light, water and enclosure.Bathing beneath the sky.A courtyard defined by water and an open roof.The sauna opens toward the landscape.A greenhouse at the end of the bathing sequence.The greenhouse glows beneath the northern lights.Six stages of retreat and return.A compact plan organised around a continuous bathing sequence.Roof, structure and the sequence of spaces.A closer study of the envelope and construction.A section through the connected bathing spaces.Planting systems within the greenhouse.