Main image: Crystal Sauna’s pink mirrored exterior reflects the riverside landscape in Skellefteå, Sweden. Courtesy of Wasteland
Five unique saunas
From roaming bathhouses to womb-inspired retreats, we round up five saunas putting a fresh spin on breaking a sweat.
1. Wellness on the waterways
Why return to the same view every time you sauna? London’s Soak takes the bathhouse on the move, changing its mooring along the city’s waterways every fortnight. Already welcoming guests by June 2026, the 17-metre canal boat was transformed by architecture collective Badweather into a compact social retreat, complete with a wood-fired sauna, two cold plunges and a small bar. Its off-grid setup combines solar-powered electricity with filtered canal water, while generous windows keep bathers connected to life outside. The result is an urban wellness escape with an ever-changing backdrop.
2. Back to the womb
Forget switching off. This sauna wants you to start over. Scheduled to open in late October 2026, Sauna Mother in Tokyo’s Roppongi district turns a private sauna session into an elaborate rebirth ritual. Created by Yuka Taki, the experience begins in a red-lit, womb-inspired room, where a low ceiling and heartbeat soundtrack encourage guests to curl up and retreat. A cold plunge marks the passage into the outside world, followed by a shower designed to recreate resting on a mother’s lap. Finally, a rocking sofa cradles guests beneath a projected maternal face. For up to four visitors at a time, escaping adulthood becomes an immersive experience.
3. Heat takes the stage
The dress code for this theatre? Swimwear. Launched at Edinburgh’s Fringe in August 2026, Sauna Theatre brings live performance into a functioning sauna. Designed by Studio Three Sixty’s Lucy Osborne, the temporary venue places timber benches around three stoves, with theatrical lighting and surround sound shaping the atmosphere. Its program spans theatre, literature, music and Aufguss, a sauna ritual combining heat, scent and towel work. Conceived by Osborne and director James Grieve, the project treats culture as part of wellbeing, inviting audiences to experience a show through their bodies as well as their minds. A cold plunge offers an unusually refreshing interval.
4. A crystal with a conscience
Some saunas blend into the landscape. This one reflects it in pink. Unveiled on May 28, 2026, Crystal Sauna is the centerpiece of Wasteland, an art and climate-focused park on a former industrial site in Skellefteå, Sweden. Artist duo Bigert & Bergström shaped the installation like an asymmetrical lithium crystal, wrapping its exterior in mirrored prisms. Inside, a cave-inspired space brings visitors back to the elemental experience of gathering around heat. The work puts sauna culture within a wider conversation about the green transition: a shared space for reflection, in more ways than one.
5. Roman rituals reimagined
Ancient Rome meets contemporary Paris at Sant Roch. Newly opened by March 2026, the destination opposite the Tuileries Gardens brings communal bathing into a carefully choreographed sensory setting. Toronto-based Futurstudio drew inspiration from the Roman baths of Lutetia, creating a two-story space centered on a 60-square-meter sauna and five cold plunge pools. Lighting, scent and curated playlists shape the journey between temperatures, while guided sessions weave in breathwork, meditation and movement. Original features, including a glass roof and 1930s mosaics in the changing rooms, give this contemporary wellness ritual a tangible connection to the past.
