Löyly Sauna
Helsinki, Finland
Challenge Apart from being a vital and limited natural resource, the sea has always fostered cities by providing the foundation for food and transport. However, oceans have also been the recipient of harmful emissions, sewage wastewater and litter, which has contaminated the environment and life below the water. Contribution The archipelago of Helsinki consists of several shallow bays characterised by inefficient water exchange. Like in many other coastal cities, the water of Helsinki Bay was polluted until authorities started to put in measures to improve the water quality. The City of Helsinki started to remove phosphorous in 1979 and is now conducting recipient control and management of wastewater treatment outlets, ensuring the water quality of the bay is clean enough for swimming.1 The public sauna and restaurant Löyly is situated in Hernesaari, close to the city centre of Helsinki, where it supports the long and widespread tradition of public saunas and winter swimming in Finland. The slim building consists of sauna and restaurant spaces and is located in a former industrial area on the seashore. The building is clad with wooden lamellas that provide access to both the sea and the roof. The indoor spaces of the building are covered with a free-form “cloak” of wooden lamellas that have turned grey over time and make the building blend in with its surroundings like a rock on the shoreline. The lamellas provide visual privacy for the users, sheltered transition zones between the sauna and bathing area, and they also help protect the building from the harsh coastal climate. Löyly is an example of an architectural space the utilisation of which requires recipient control and management of wastewater for the benefit of humans as well as life below the sea, and which in its nature fosters appreciation and awareness of the sea and its wildlife.
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