The proposal is as much a sauna as it is a viewing chamber to experience the post-glacial landscape of Lake Nipissing. The design balances a reduced and tight envelope necessary for a sauna with a form that is derived on the principle of an axial, direct, and engaging relationship with the land and the water. Perched on the north east side of the island on steep rock, the view is of “large open water with small rocky islands in the distance”. The experience is holistic; the healing properties of the sauna through the physical effects on our body are as important as the potency of nature, the environment and the view in augmenting the sauna’s therapeutic properties. The architecture is content with the land and water as are the land and water content with the architecture. Both are silent, both are patient, both are tied to one experience.
This project was intended to be a part of an advanced level structures course where the objective was to integrate both good design and engineering to present a fully resolved scheme. Working in teams of six, the aim was to implement the principles of wood design and gain understanding of the relationships between various structural elements.
Project Team: Saarinen Balagengatharadilak, Ryan Giurichich, Keerat Kaur, Carolina Mellado, Phillip Wharton and Jahanvi Sharma.
