Löyly: A Masterpiece of Sustainable Architecture in Helsinki

Architect Ville Hara's Public Sauna and Restaurant

Löyly, a public sauna and restaurant, is a unique project that embodies Finnish culture and innovative architectural design. The project was inspired by the need for a public sauna experience for visitors and locals alike. The structure, designed by Ville Hara, is a rectangular box containing warm spaces, covered with a free-form wooden "cloak". The cloak functions like venetian blinds, blocking views from outside and protecting the building from the harsh coastal climate. The structure also helps to reduce energy consumption for cooling the building.

The building's design is slim and elongated to avoid cutting the narrow park in which it is located. The volume is kept as low as possible to avoid blocking views from future residential blocks. The sauna is developed into an easy-going, faceted construction that is more part of the park than a conventional building. As the wooden building turns gray over time, it will blend into the shoreline, appearing more like a rock than a man-made structure.

The cloak of the building is made of Nextimber, a special heat-treated gluelam that modifies timber’s properties and eliminates the need for surface treatments requiring high maintenance. The cloak consists of around 4000 planks, over half of which have individual shapes. These were modeled and precisely cut to individual forms by a computer-controlled CNC machine. The cloak also has an interesting load-bearing steel structure, as the beams meet at different angles.

Löyly offers three different saunas, all heated with wood, including a traditional smoke sauna without a chimney. Visitors can experience all sorts of Finnish Löyly during a single visit. They can also swim in the sea and, in winter, there is an avanto, a hole in the ice for winter swimming.

The project faced several challenges, including finding a client for the project and securing funding. However, with the support of Antero Vartia and Jasper Paakkonen, who secured a bank loan of more than 6 million euros, the project was finally realized. Löyly is now a testament to Finnish culture, sustainable design, and innovative architecture.

With its innovative design and commitment to sustainability, Löyly has received several accolades. It was awarded the Platinum A' Architecture, Building and Structure Design Award in 2017, recognizing its world-class, exceptional, and highly innovative design. It is also the first fully FSC-certified building in Finland and the second in Scandinavia.