TRAVEL

Extravaganza finnish sauna Löyly in Helsinki – great tip for your summer holiday in the north and for lovers of modern architecture! The sauna for a new generation – Löyly – looks simply ingenious! An absolute architectural eye-catcher and definitely worth a visit! I could sit on the terraces for hours, stare at the sea and enjoy the relaxed atmosphere. Sauna culture is an important part of Finnish culture and national identity. As the sense of community becomes an increasingly important aspect of the new city culture, the idea of the city of Helsinki to offer foreign visitors a year-round public sauna experience was born. Already the landscape is simply unique. Löyly is located in the former industrial area of Hernesaari, which is being developed into a residential area. Although it is located in the Finnish archipelago, it is less than two kilometres from the city centre.

A finnish sauna Löyly in Helsinki – the result of a special ecological project

Here is everything thought out down to the smallest detail: the sculptural structure made of heat-treated pine offers visual privacy, but the slats do not obstruct the view of the sea from the interior, but function as blinds and protect against views from outside. There are sheltered outdoor spaces between the warm mass and the shell, where you can cool down between sauna sessions. The staggered shell also forms a staircase to the roof and viewing terraces on top of the building. The structure forms a large outdoor auditorium for the future activities of the water sports centre. The large wooden terrace floats partly above the sea and you can hear the sound of the waves under your feet. The future appearance is also not left to chance: If the wood turns grey over time, it should resemble the rocks of the coast.

Two parts of Löyly

The building consists of two parts: a public sauna and a restaurant. There are three different saunas, all heated with wood: a continuously heated sauna, a uniquely heated sauna and a traditional smoke sauna – a real rarity in urban saunas. The atmosphere is quiet and the rooms are dimly lit. The ideology of “green business” is evident everywhere: the restaurant serves organic dishes and fish from sustainable stocks. The building is the first in Finland and the second in Scandinavia with FSC certification, which confirms that the wood comes from sustainable forests. The building is heated by district heating and electricity is generated by water and wind power.

The interior design is more gently minimalist and thus appears very elegant and modern, a typical Scandinavian style of furnishing. The main materials in the interiors are black concrete, light Scandinavian birch wood, blackened steel and wool. The birch wood used is pressed, glued and lightly heat-treated, a new and sustainable Finnish innovation made from plywood industry material remnants that are normally incinerated for energy production. This transforms the remains into a beautiful recycled material.

I also found some comments about finnish sauna Löyly in Helsinki (source: Tripadvisor):

“Great ambience, very clean, sometimes perhaps hot for beginners to get used to. But a mega ambience. The Finns are not as devoutly quiet as we Central Europeans. You are allowed to talk and enjoy yourself in the sauna. The jump into the sea, a shock. But I’ve rarely felt so good about it. Be sure to try it! Tickets must be booked online with a time window. Everything top” – Carolina

 

“I visited Löyly with colleagues on a cold and foggy Finnish summer evening. The design of the sauna is incredible and takes the traditional Finnish sauna to a new level. We especially liked the cooling in the sea at + 8 degrees.” Franca

 

“Modern design and spacious. Bar and restaurant right outside the door – the food was really incredible, ordered the traditional Finnish soup and burgers”. –Diana

So, next time you visit Helsinki, try löyly. You ´ll love it, I promise. More information can be found here.