Loyly, Finland
Designed by Avanto Architects, Löyly is a coastal sauna located in Hernesaari, a former industrial area of Helsinki, Finland. It was completed in 2016.
The building is characterised by an irregularly-shaped outer shell that acts as a ‘cloak’, covering the rectangular black box that contains the sauna and restaurant.
Wooden slats and bleachers create the multi-faceted volume of the sauna, allowing visitors to climb up to a viewing platform. The building is relatively low to the ground so that it will not impinge upon sea views for future residents. At ground level, a terrace extends out over the coastline, with a flight of stairs leading down into the sea.
The building is made of blackened concrete and steel and pale Scandinavian birch wood, materials selected for their durability. The external pine cladding was pressed, glued and heat-treated, and is intended to grey with age so that it blends in with the stony coastline.
The developers intend to rediscover the community attachment to public saunas, which have been under threat from the growing popularity of private saunas. Finland, with a population of 5.4 million, has over three million saunas, roughly one per household.
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki
- Blur Building.
- Building of the week series.
- Chapel of the Holy Cross, Sedona.
- Cube Houses.
- Dancing House, Prague.
- Fish Building, India.
- Gentle Genius.
- Liepaja Thermal Bath.
- Little Crooked House, Poland.
- Norwegian Mountaineering Center.
- Suvela Chapel.
- Swimming pool construction.
- Underwater restaurant.
- Unusual building design of the week.
Featured articles and news
CLC and BSR process map for HRB approvals
One of the initial outputs of their weekly BSR meetings.
Building Safety Levy technical consultation response
Details of the planned levy now due in 2026.
Great British Energy install solar on school and NHS sites
200 schools and 200 NHS sites to get solar systems, as first project of the newly formed government initiative.
600 million for 60,000 more skilled construction workers
Announced by Treasury ahead of the Spring Statement.
The restoration of the novelist’s birthplace in Eastwood.
Life Critical Fire Safety External Wall System LCFS EWS
Breaking down what is meant by this now often used term.
PAC report on the Remediation of Dangerous Cladding
Recommendations on workforce, transparency, support, insurance, funding, fraud and mismanagement.
New towns, expanded settlements and housing delivery
Modular inquiry asks if new towns and expanded settlements are an effective means of delivering housing.
Building Engineering Business Survey Q1 2025
Survey shows growth remains flat as skill shortages and volatile pricing persist.
Construction contract awards remain buoyant
Infrastructure up but residential struggles.
Home builders call for suspension of Building Safety Levy
HBF with over 100 home builders write to the Chancellor.
CIOB Apprentice of the Year 2024/2025
CIOB names James Monk a quantity surveyor from Cambridge as the winner.
Warm Homes Plan and existing energy bill support policies
Breaking down what existing policies are and what they do.
Treasury responds to sector submission on Warm Homes
Trade associations call on Government to make good on manifesto pledge for the upgrading of 5 million homes.
A tour through Robotic Installation Systems for Elevators, Innovation Labs, MetaCore and PORT tech.
A dynamic brand built for impact stitched into BSRIA’s building fabric.
BS 9991:2024 and the recently published CLC advisory note
Fire safety in the design, management and use of residential buildings. Code of practice.